Stories
RN Kao: The Spy Master Who Founded R&AW and Merged Sikkim into India
- •Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar announced a film on legendary spy master RN Kao, founder of India's foreign intelligence agency, R&AW.
- •Rameshwar Nath Kao was born on May 10, 1918, in Varanasi and joined the Imperial Police in 1940.
- •Kao gained international recognition in 1955 for investigating the Kashmir Princess plane explosion, linked to a plot targeting Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai.
- •In 1968, following the 1962 and 1965 wars, R&AW was created, and Kao became its first chief.
- •Kao's tenure saw significant involvement in the 1971 India-Pakistan war and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as the merger of Sikkim into India in 1975.
Key Questions Answered
Rameshwar Nath Kao was the founder and first chief of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), commanding it for about a decade. He gained international recognition through his investigation of the 1955 Kashmir Princess plane explosion and later played a crucial strategic role during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and the 1975 merger of Sikkim into India.
After deficiencies were exposed during the 1962 India-China war and the 1965 India-Pakistan war, India recognized the critical need for a dedicated foreign intelligence agency. Consequently, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) was established in 1968 under the leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, with RN Kao appointed as its founding chief.
In 1955, a bomb exploded aboard an aircraft named Kashmir Princess, which was linked to a conspiracy targeting Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. India sent Intelligence Bureau officer RN Kao to help investigate the attack, and his handling of this high-profile case brought him international recognition and marked his first major overseas intelligence assignment.
