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{{Short description|Indian spymaster}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2022}}
{{More footnotes|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
| name = Rameshwar Nath Kao
| image = File:Potrait of Rameshwar Nath Kao.jpg
| imagesize =
| order = 1st Chief & Founder of [[Research and Analysis Wing|R&AW]] and 1st Secretary (Security)
| term_start = {{Start date|1968||}}
| term_end = {{End date|1977||}}
| predecessor = ''Office created''
| successor = [[K. Sankaran Nair]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|05|10|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Varanasi|Benares]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br>(present day [[Varanasi district|Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|01|20|1918|05|10|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Delhi]], India
| profession = Spymaster
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Lucknow]]<br />[[University of Allahabad]]
| spouse = Malini Kao
| children = 1
| caption = Portrait of Kao
}}

'''Rameshwar Nath Kao''' (10 May 1918 – 20 January 2002) was an Indian [[spymaster]] and the first chief of [[India]]'s external intelligence agency, the [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (R&AW) from its founding in 1968 to 1977. Kao was one of India's foremost intelligence officers, and helped build R&AW.<ref name="toi">{{cite news |title=RAW founder chief R.N. Kao dies |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-01-20/india/27107758_1_research-and-analysis-wing-intelligence-gandhi |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103130745/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-01-20/india/27107758_1_research-and-analysis-wing-intelligence-gandhi |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 January 2013 |location=New Delhi |date=20 January 2002 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>

Kao held the position of Secretary (Research) in the [[Cabinet Secretariat (India)|Cabinet Secretariat]] of the [[Government of India]], which has been held by all R&AW directors since. He had also, during the course of his long career, served as the personal security chief to Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and as security adviser to Prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]]. He also founded the [[Aviation Research Centre]] (ARC) and the [[National_Security_Council_(India)|Joint Intelligence Committee]]. An intensely private man, Kao was rarely seen in public post-retirement.

==Personal life==

===Early years===
Kao was born in the holy city of [[Varanasi|Benares]] (now Varanasi) in [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] ([[Uttar Pradesh]]) on 10 May 1918 to a [[Kashmiri Pandit]] family who migrated from [[Srinagar district]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. He was brought up by his uncle Pandit Trilokinath Kao. Encouraged to pursue education, he had his early schooling in the city of [[Vadodara|Baroda]], in the [[Bombay Presidency]]. Here he did his matriculation in 1932 and intermediate in 1934. In 1936, he attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from [[University of Lucknow|Lucknow University]]. He then chose to pursue a master's degree in English Literature at [[University of Allahabad|Allahabad University]]. He completed his [[Master of Arts]] degree some time before 1940.<ref name="bharat-rakshak">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-5/sainis.html |access-date=14 May 2006 |title=R. N. Kao |work=Bharat Rakshak |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060413024002/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-5/sainis.html |archive-date=13 April 2006 }}</ref>

===Later years===
Rameshwarnath Kao was also known as ''Ramji'' amongst his friends and colleagues.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Czar of India's counter-intelligence |url=http://ikashmir.net/rnkao/czar.html |work=Kashmiri Pandit Network |first=Dr. B.N. |last=Sharga |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref> A fiercely private man, he was rarely seen in public. He knew too much to make a public statement or write a book. Some attribute this to a life devoted to adventure and espionage which made it very difficult for him to mingle publicly. He was a recluse leading a heavily guarded life in his [[New Delhi]] bungalow, very rarely giving interviews. From 1989, Kao dedicated his time largely to the task of restoring the dignity and honour of the [[Kashmiri Pandits]]. He interacted with various political leaders and the [[Government of India|Indian government]] to see that the Kashmir problem was not forgotten. He died in 2002 at age 84. He is survived by his wife, Malini Kao, to whom he had been married for 60 years, and daughter Achala Kaul.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gokhale |first1=Nitin A |title=R N Kao, India's legendary Spymaster |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/special/r-n-kao-indias-legendary-spymaster-/20191017.htm |access-date=29 December 2019 |work=Rediff |date=17 October 2019}}</ref>

===Personal traits===
Kao was well-liked in the international intelligence community. His professionalism was well regarded by his colleagues and the Prime Ministers [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Little outside the Ring |url=http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/india4.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/7dd12afc8628f7bde5256b62002c34e2?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126221617/http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/india4.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/7dd12afc8628f7bde5256b62002c34e2?OpenDocument |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 January 2013 |publisher=The Telegraph |first=Rukun |last=Advani |date=8 February 2002 |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>
Count [[Alexandre de Marenches]], erstwhile head of the French external intelligence agency, or [[SDECE]] (Service For External Documentation And Counter-Intelligence) as it was then known, named Kao as one of the 'five great intelligence chiefs of the 1970s'. About Kao, whom he knew well and admired, Count remarked:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Tribune News |title=The 'Kaoboy' who founded RAW |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/book-reviews/the-kaoboy-who-founded-raw-871736 |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=Tribuneindia News Service |language=en}}</ref> {{Quote|"What a fascinating mix of physical and mental elegance! What accomplishments! What friendships! And, yet so shy of talking about himself, his accomplishments and his friends."}} Alexandre praised the way Kao had built up R&AW into a professional intelligence organisation and made it play a key role to change the strategic face of the [[Indian Subcontinent]] within a span of three years of R&AWs formation.<ref>{{cite web|title=R.N. Kao: In Remembrance |url=http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers6%5Cpaper581.html |publisher=South Asia Analysis Group |first=B. |last=Raman |date=13 January 2003 |access-date=13 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616012456/http://southasiaanalysis.org//papers6/paper581.html |archive-date=16 June 2010 }}</ref>

==Career==
Kao, for a while, took up a job in a cigarette company floated by Pt. Jag Mohan Narain Mushran, the then Chief Justice of the [[Benares State]].<ref name="milchar">{{cite web|url=http://www.milchar.com/Mar2002/7.html |access-date=14 May 2006 |title=R. N. Kao |work=Kashmiri Pandits Association |location=Mumbai, India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015454/http://www.milchar.com/Mar2002/7.html |archive-date=30 September 2007 }}</ref>

===Early career===
Kao took classes in Law at [[University of Allahabad|Allahabad University]] but left when he joined the [[Indian Imperial Police]] in 1940 after passing [[Civil Services Examination|Civil services examination]]. His first posting was at [[Kanpur|Cawnpore]] (Kanpur) as an Assistant Superintendent of Police. Kao was deputed to the Intelligence Bureau (I.B.), on the eve of Independence when it was being reorganised under [[Bhola Nath Mullik|B. N. Mullick]]. He was put in charge of VIP security, which included the task of looking after the security ring of Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=R N Kao remembered |url=https://www.aninews.in/news/national/features/r-n-kao-remembered20220120185237/ |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=ANI News |language=en}}</ref> Sometime in the late 50s he was sent to [[Dominion of Ghana|Ghana]] to help the then [[Nkrumah government#Nkrumah's independence government (1957 – 1960)|government]] of [[Prime Minister of Ghana|prime minister]] [[Kwame Nkrumah]] set up an intelligence and security organisation there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-25 |title=Spymaster RN Kao: Far Cry From James Bond, Who Helped Liberate Bangladesh & Put R&AW on World Map |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/spymaster-rn-kao-far-cry-from-james-bond-who-helped-liberate-bangladesh-put-raw-on-world-map-3775445.html |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=News18 |language=en}}</ref>

===Kashmir Princess ===
{{Unreferenced section||find=R. N. Kao|date=August 2022}}
[[Kashmir Princess]] was a [[Lockheed Constellation|Lockheed L-749A Constellation]] aircraft owned by [[Air India]] which exploded in midair and crashed into the Pacific Ocean on 11 April 1955 while en route from [[Bombay]], India and Hong Kong to [[Jakarta]], Indonesia, carrying delegates to the [[Bandung Conference]]. 16 of those on board were killed; three survived. Investigators believed that the explosion had been caused by a [[Time bomb (explosive)|time bomb]] placed aboard the aircraft by a [[secret service|secret agent]] of the [[Kuomintang]], also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, who was attempting to assassinate [[Premier of the People's Republic of China|Chinese premier]] [[Zhou Enlai]], who had been scheduled to board the plane to attend the conference but had changed his travel plans at the last minute. Kao, along with British and Chinese agents, probed the circumstances leading to the crash. His work with the Chinese earned him a letter of recommendation from Zhou Enlai.

===Under the new Government===
In 1977, Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] was toppled when the Congress was defeated in the elections by the [[Janata Party]]. Kao's closeness to Indira Gandhi had aroused deep suspicion among the political class about his role in the Emergency. However, Kao had privately advised Mrs. Gandhi not to declare emergency.<ref name="thehindu"/> His tenure had been extended by Mrs. Gandhi; he would have retired in 1976 otherwise.

When Morarji Desai's government came to power after the Emergency, Kao was under no illusion about how the new set of politicians— who had publicly attacked Indira Gandhi for spying on them— would react to his presence. He resigned quietly and kept out of the public eye. A thorough inquiry cleared him and the R&AW of all blame. He returned when Indira made a comeback in 1980. He worked as a security adviser to both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.

===National Security Guard===
{{Unreliable sources|date=August 2022}}
{{Disputed-section|date=August 2022}}
Kao created the [[National Security Guard]] (NSG),{{Proveit|reason=Prove it|date=August 2022}} during the Punjab militancy during the 1980s, to address the needs of the Government of India to counteract terrorism within the country.<ref name=canary>{{cite web |title=Remembering the legendary Kao |url=http://canarytrap.in/2009/01/15/remembering-the-legendary-kao/ |work=Canary Trap |first=R. K. |last=Yadav |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=23 July 2012}}{{PROV-statement|reason=Blogs can't be reliable source|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Spy & a Gentlemen |url=http://www.panunkashmir.org/kashmirsentinel/jan2003/20.html |work=Kashmir Sentinel |first=M. K. |last=Narayanan |date=January 2003 |access-date=14 August 2012}}{{Not verified in body|date=August 2022}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2022}}

==As R&AW Chief==

===Founding and establishing R&AW===
After the [[intelligence failure]] of being unable to predict the [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962 and the [[Operation Gibraltar]] of 1965, the Indian polity felt the need to establish a separate organisation for gathering intelligence for military purposes. Kao was handpicked by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] himself, who knew him well, from his years as Nehru's Head of Personal Security. On his return from Ghana, he was made the first director of the newly formed [[Aviation Research Centre]] at Charbatia, [[Odisha, India|Odisha]], that chiefly concentrated on [[Technical intelligence|TECHINT]] collection. The [[Sino-Indian War]] and the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]] caused the restructuring of the country's intelligence apparatus, since real-time foreign intelligence had become a political necessity. The Intelligence Bureau of India (IB) was considered to have become something of a behemoth, and was bogged down by internal operations and politicisation.<ref name=ikashmir>{{cite web |title=Life & Times of K.N. Rao |url=http://ikashmir.net/rnkao/times.html |work=Kashmiri Pandit Network |first=Vijay Krishna |last=Kaul |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>

In 1968, the then Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]], who had then also begun tightening her grip on the Congress party, bifurcated the [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] to form the [[Research and Analysis Wing]]. The IB would be involved in domestic intelligence gathering, while the [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (R&AW) was created as India's primary external intelligence agency. Its mandate was to monitor the world in general and South Asia in particular. Kao was chosen as the head of the new organization, with a rank of Additional Secretary (Research)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LzJVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT134 Intertwined Lives: P.N. Haksar & Indira Gandhi], Jairam Ramesh, 2018, page 134, later quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fw-_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT108 R.N. Kao: Gentleman Spymaster], Nitin A. Gokhale, 2019, page 108</ref> in the [[Cabinet Secretariat of India|Cabinet Secretariat]], later elevated to Secretary, a post that all R&AW Chiefs occupy. As its founder-chief, Kao was given the task of building up R&AW from scratch. He spent the next nine years as the head of the organisation.<ref name="thehindu">{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/01/24/stories/2002012405341000.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020209103354/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/01/24/stories/2002012405341000.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=9 February 2002 |date=24 January 2002 |title=A reticent spymaster |first=Inder |last=Malhotra |access-date=26 November 2006}}</ref> He took over R&AW at a time when things were beginning to heat up in the subcontinent. His tenure, which began in 1968, lasted for nearly a decade and marked the closest association that an Indian prime minister has ever had with the country's intelligence chief. He had unlimited access to [[Indira Gandhi]]. She reposed complete faith in him.

===Bangladesh liberation war period===
Towards the end of the 1960s, when the problems in [[East Pakistan]] began to escalate, the meetings with Indira Gandhi became more and more frequent. Recalls long-time Kao associate Victor Longer: "Intelligence is the only government business that depends upon the spoken word. Sometimes you can understand signs and body language. Kao had that rapport with Mrs Gandhi." The PMO's inner group of Kashmiri advisors D.P. Dhar, P.N. Haksar and T.N. Kaul now had another Kashmiri, Kao, for company. While what transpired at the meetings can now only be a matter of conjecture, Kao's own team, notably Shankaran Nair (former R&AW Director) and [[Girish Chandra Saxena]] (former R&AW Director and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] Governor), sized up the emerging scenario in what is now Bangladesh with precision. What was worked out was not just the larger picture but the little nuts and bolts—contingency plans and micro details. The idea of India training and equipping the freedom fighters of Mukti Bahini was evolved meticulously.

After [[Pakistan]] launched [[Operation Searchlight]], R&AW played a highly important role in the [[Creation of Bangladesh]]. They gave arms and training support to the [[Mukti Bahini]] during the initial stages of the war. Amidst the mass killings and brutal rapes, Indian operatives would get into East Pakistan, arm the local population and capitalise on the frustrations brewing within. Ashok Raina, in his book "Inside R&AW", writes: "Another R&AW assessment sent to the prime minister spelt out the need for surgical intervention for the reports that came in gave positive indications that Pakistan was preparing for war. R&AW received the green signal. R&AW established guerrilla training camps along the border and began to train an illegal army."

According to Gunaratna, the Bangladesh operation took place in two phases: covert subversion and military intervention. "Phase one was coordinated by Kao and phase two by [[Manekshaw]], both reporting directly to Indira Gandhi," he said. During the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971 war]], intelligence was thorough enough that the Indian Air Force could bomb the room in which the East Pakistan Cabinet was in session. Naval commandos were able to blow every single Pakistani ship in the [[Chittagong]] harbour.<ref name="rediff">{{cite web |url=http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/13raman.htm |title=We should leave Pakistan to stew in her own juice |first=B. |last=Raman |date=18 January 2003 |access-date=27 November 2006}}</ref>

Kao maintained close connection with the new nation. In May 1975, Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] sent him to Dhaka to warn [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] of his impending assassination by some in his Army.<ref name="thehindu"/>

===Merger of Sikkim===
Kao can also largely be credited for merging Sikkim into India in 1975 as its 22nd state.<ref name=ikashmir /> It was he who predicted and identified the fact that the merger must be effected before other competing interests like China moved in. Delhi had publicly acknowledged the good work done by R&AW at that point. Some analysts say Kao also had a substantial role in arming Tamil guerrillas in the late seventies and eighties and played a pivotal role in Sri Lankan affairs, even though he was no longer the hands-on man.

==Legacy==
Kao is a legend among the Indian and South Asian Intelligence community, for his creation of the R&AW as a formidable force in such a short time from its inception. He is also well regarded by his juniors. His influence was such that those who served under him during this time were affectionately called 'Kaoboys'.<ref name="thehindu"/> Although the R&AW was established only in 1968, by the 1971 war, it had become a highly efficient and formidable force. Kao is credited to have, in only three years of R&AW's existence, helped in bringing about the creation of a new nation.

Former chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee K.N. Daruwala has said:
<blockquote>"His contacts the world over, particularly in Asia—Afghanistan, Iran, China, you name it—were something else. He could move things with just one phone call. He was a team leader who rode out notorious inter-departmental and inter-service rivalries, which is commonplace in India."</blockquote>

===R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture===
In order to commemorate the legacy of its founder R&AW created the annual R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture. The first lecture took place in 2006 on the fifth anniversary of Kao's death, and was delivered by writer-diplomat [[Shashi Tharoor]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070815/asp/opinion/story_8195501.asp | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919053527/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070815/asp/opinion/story_8195501.asp | url-status=dead | archive-date=19 September 2012 | location=Calcutta, India | work=The Telegraph | first=Jyoti | last=Malhotra | title=What's the score on India's covert operations | date=15 August 2007}}</ref> In 2007 [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]] delivered the second annual lecture, he focused on the shortage of people with the right skill set, in and out of the government. He counted the scramble for talent as one of the issues that looms the largest — globally and in India — over organisations in the private and public sector.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hindustantimes.com/business/headhunting-lesson-get-em-as-cia-does/story-6W2aVTM1CvuiCva0RQsIBI.html |title=Headhunting lesson: Get 'em as CIA does |first=Aloke |last=Tikku |work=Hindustan Times |date=19 January 2008 |access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref>

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|
before=Post Created|
title=[[Research and Analysis Wing|Secretary (Research)]]|
years = 1968–1977|
after = [[K. Sankaran Nair]]
}}
{{s-end}}

== See also ==
* ''[[R.N. Kao Gentleman Spymaster]]''
* ''[[Adrishya]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/r-n-kao-9204116.html |title=Obituaries: R. N. Kao |first=Kuldip |last=Singh |work=[[The Independent]] |date=1 February 2002 |location=London, UK |access-date=16 January 2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2014/06/kaos-memoirs-insight-into-r-roots.html |title=Kao's memoirs — an insight into R&AW roots |first=Shyam |last=Bhatia |work=Sri Lanka Guardian |date=23 June 2014 |access-date=16 January 2016}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kao, R. N.}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Spymasters]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Hindus]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Pandits]]
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]
[[Category:People from Varanasi]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:University of Lucknow alumni]]
[[Category:People of the Research and Analysis Wing]]

R. N. Kao - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Add new article