Journalist and author Yatish Yadav’s new book RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations is a window into the heroic covert operations carried by India’s external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The book will give a detailed account of real spies and reveals hitherto unknown aspects of their life, trauma and temptation, triumphs and setbacks in executing each of their ‘Mission Impossible’.
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RAW, whose founder was spymaster Rameshwar Nath Kao, was established in 1968 to satisfy the need for increased intelligence that was identified during the 1962 Sino-Indian Border War and during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965.
“The idea behind the book is to do a deep dive into the unanswered questions surrounding the spy agency — its operatives, and put forward some the significant role that it played and its impact on national security and long-term secret diplomacy. While writing it, I came across a number of these brave shadowy warriors and developed a close connection with each of them and I hope it does justice to their stories of valour and sacrifices,” said the author.
According to publisher Westland, by following the lives of these agents and mapping their actions in real situations, the book provides a deeper insight and understanding of how covert operations are carried out in the uncharted territory — their agonising misses too are woven into compilations to reflect the reality.
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“Espionage is a ruthless world. While a spy may die, the craft lives on — that’s the common thread in the chapters that offer an intense narrative of intelligence harvest,” it added.
The book is available online on Amazon and offline across bookstores in India.