經濟學人世界新聞簡訊 - 2023/9/24

RAW：印度情報機構

商羯旃（Chanakya）是公元前四世紀印度著名的作家和思想家，也是孔雀王朝皇帝的顧問，他是最早將間諜活動作為國家治理重要組成部分的倡導者之一。但印度的秘密力量歷來集中在南亞地區。最近加拿大指責印度特工參與謀殺在溫哥華的錫克教活動家哈爾迪普·辛格·尼賈爾（Hardeep Singh Nijjar），這可能是一個新的全球野心的跡象。

Chanakya, a renowned writer and thinker in the fourth-century BC and an advisor to the Mauryan emperor in ancient India, was one of the earliest advocates of espionage as an essential part of statecraft. But India’s covert powers have historically focused on South Asia. The recent accusation from Canada that Indian agents were involved in the murder in Vancouver of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist, could be a sign of new, global ambitions.

印度獨立後，印度政府依靠殖民時代的情報局（IB）進行國內和國外的間諜活動。1968年，時任總理英迪拉·甘地（Indira Gandhi）要求曾幫助獨立的加納建立其第一個情報機構的IB官員R.N. Kao成立一個新的機構。結果是成立了研究與分析局（RAW）。為向他致敬，早期的官員們自稱“Kaoboys”。

After independence, the Indian government relied on the colonial-era Intelligence Bureau (IB) for domestic and foreign spy work. That changed in 1968 when Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, asked R.N. Kao, an IB official who had helped independent Ghana establish its first spy service, to set up a new agency. The result was the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). In homage, its early officers called themselves “Kaoboys”.

RAW迅速成為印度力量的一個重要工具。在1971年與巴基斯坦的戰爭中，它發揮了關鍵作用，它幫助武裝和訓練了孟加拉叛軍，最終建立了孟加拉國。在隨後的幾十年裡，它影響了政治，武裝了反叛分子——尤其是斯里蘭卡的泰米爾猛虎分離主義者和阿富汗的塔吉克軍閥——並干涉了印度僑民。其準軍事部隊主要由藏族難民組成，被稱為特種邊境部隊，在最近喜馬拉雅山的中國和印度小規模衝突中發揮了作用。而且，像許多間諜機構一樣，它也參與外交官無法進行的敏感對話：RAW官員在與巴基斯坦軍方和反叛組織的後台談判中發揮了關鍵作用。

RAW quickly became an important instrument of Indian power. It was critical during a war with Pakistan in 1971, when it helped arm and train Bengali insurgents who eventually carved out the state of Bangladesh. In subsequent decades it influenced politics, armed rebels—notably Tamil Tiger separatists in Sri Lanka and Tajik warlords in Afghanistan—and meddled in the Indian diasporas. Its paramilitary unit, manned largely by Tibetan refugees and known as the Special Frontier Force, played a role in recent Sino-Indian skirmishing in the Himalayas. And, like many spy agencies, it participates in the sensitive conversations that diplomats cannot: RAW officials played a key role in backchannel talks with Pakistan’s military and insurgent groups.

事實上，該機構在巴基斯坦享有近乎神話般的地位，巴基斯坦的領導人認為，印度的隱形手在每起事故背後都有身影。然而，RAW在實際情報收集方面名聲不佳，主要集中在分析和在巴基斯坦、尼泊爾和斯里蘭卡等國的秘密行動。

In fact, the service has near-mythological status in Pakistan, whose leaders see India’s hidden hand behind every mishap. Yet RAW has a middling reputation for actual intelligence gathering, and largely focuses on analysis and covert operations in countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

RAW被控在南亞殺害敵人，但從未像在加拿大這樣遙遠的地方。一位了解該機構的前情報官員表示：“這不符合RAW的風格。”印度稱這一指控“荒謬”，驅逐了加拿大駐德里情報局長，並暫停向加拿大人發放新簽證。隨著印度在世界舞台上變得更加自信，這可能是一個未來的跡象。

RAW has been accused of bumping off enemies in South Asia; never so far afield as Canada.“It is out of character for RAW,” says one former intelligence official with knowledge of the agency. India, which called the allegation “absurd”, expelled Canada’s intelligence chief in Delhi and suspended new visas for Canadians. As India grows more confident on the world stage, it may be an indication of things to come.

PHOTO: AP

_{Sources: https://www.economist.com/the-world-in-brief
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