A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, July 2, 2019
R&AW steps up vigil, cripples China-Pak nexus in Arabian Sea region


Saturday, 29 June 2019
In a bid to check growing influence of China-Pakistan nexus in the
Indian Ocean, India's external intelligence agency, Research and
Analysis Wing (R&AW) is bolstering up its maritime intelligence
network, laying more emphasis on the Arabian Sea region. Eight months
ago, in the tenure of the then President of Maldives, Abdullah Yameen,
capital city Male had become overseas hub of Pakistan's spy agency, the
Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
A secret report of RA&W reveals that Indian agency successfully
thwarted ISI designs in the strategic island of Maldives. The ISI,
backed by Ministry of State Security, MSS (Chinese spy agency) and
involving a few close aides of former Maldives President Abdullah
Yameen, was encouraging anti-India activities being operated from
Pakistan's embassy located in Male, report says. Yameen was allegedly
close to a senior Pakistan diplomat and was later trapped by the Chinese
agency.
The report says that during the tenure of Abdullah Yameen, President of
Mauritius (2013-2018), the Chinese gained military, economic and
political influence in the strategic island. Yameen's activities did not
find favours with India.
A highly placed source in the government told IANS that Chinese invested
more than 2 billion dollars in large-scale infrastructure projects, but
the money pumped in by Beijing was more in the form of a loan. Yameen
entertained several Chinese companies and even leased small islands to
them.
According to a source, the situation changed once Ibrahim Mohammed Solih
took over as Maldives' new President. "Finally Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's recent visit to Maldives (June 8 and 9) was a morale booster for
India's security and intelligence agencies. National Security Advisor
Ajit Doval was the key person in planning this first foreign visit of
Modi in his second term, a source said.
Sources said that former President Yameen was also close to Pakistan and
had allegedly facilitated ISI to increase its presence in the island
country. During Yameen's tenure, Pakistan Embassy at Lily Magu area in
Male had become an overseas hub of ISI, engaged in hatching conspiracies
against India. In fact Pakistan's Ambassador played a key role in
bringing Beijing closer to Yameen.
Turning the tide against Yameen, pro-India leader Ibrahim Mohammed Solih
took an anti-China stance in last year's election and succeeded in his
mission. Sources said once Solih took over the reins in Male, ISI's
growing influence in the Maldives was gradually neutralised. Besides
Maldives, R&AW is also stepping up its vigil of Chinese vessels
around Seychelles and Mauritius.
New R&AW Chief Samant Goel, an expert on Sino-Pak affairs with more
than 18 years of experience in the agency now plays an important role in
stepping up India's vigil in the Arabian sea region. Goel, a 1984 batch
IPS officer, is said to be close to Ajit Doval and has been a key
figure in chalking out the planning of Balakot air strike early this
year.
"With Doval at the helm, his close aide Samant, a meritorious officer,
can take the agency to a new height of professionalism. As far as
checking the growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean is concerned
, the RA&W is quite capable of achieving its set objective," said a
former senior official of India's external agency.
Sources said to rejuvenate the cadre and enhance human intelligence,
RA&W has got rid over several officers who were not performing up to
the mark. The officers whose identity was compromised or against whom
there were complaints relating to integrity, were also shown the door.
The agency has also procured state-of-the-art gadgets and is well-equipped to intercept conversations of satellite phones.
In cyber-related surveillance RA&W can be compared with any top spy
agency of the world including Mossad (Israel) or China's Ministry of
State Security, MSS. Sources said apart from increasing maritime
presence, MSS is also focusing on economic espionage as China becomes a
major telecom player.
The MSS boasts of some of the best hackers who can break into any secret
data from a server located in any part of world. Sources said R&AW
is well equipped to tackle any such cyber threat originating from any
part of the globe.