Pandit Rameshwar Nath Kao was born on 2 October 1917, in the holy city of Banaras in Uttar Pradesh to a Kashmiri Hindu Pandit family who had migrated from the Srinagar district of the Kashmir valley to Kashmiri Mohalla in Lucknow. Kao was only six when his father passed away and he was brought up by his uncle Pandit Triloki Nath Kao.
Rameshwar Nath received his early education from Baroda. He did his matriculation in 1932 and intermediate in 1934 and later attained a degree in Bachelor of Arts from Lucknow University. He was well-versed in Persian, Sanskrit, and Urdu and could read, write and speak fluently in all three languages. Kao did his Master in English from Allahabad University. Later, he joined classes in law, however, later, he passed India’s highly coveted Civil Service Examination and joined the Indian Imperial Police in 1940 and could not complete the law course from Allahabad University.
Thereafter, he was posted at Kanpur as Assistant Superintendent of Police. He then realized the need for intelligence training to solve the complex issues of law and order. Hence he was one of the first Indians to join the Intelligence Bureau which was entirely manned by British officers. There he got deep insights into the Colonial administration and its support structures in Indian society.
Later, he used these insights and experiences to undermine these support structures with the subversive potential to put Indian society on sound footing. Though he did awesome work in this field his contributions remained unsung.
In June 1947, he was deputed to the Intelligence Bureau when it was being reorganized under the aegis of B.N. Mullick. He was put in charge of VIP Security which was also assigned the duty of looking after the security ring of Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. During this assignment, he was appreciated for his good handling of the job.
Further, the intelligence agency felt the need for a highly specialized organization that could look after the gathering of technical intelligence, run clandestine operations into Tibet, and even operate behind enemy lines across the Himalayan frontier. In order to bifurcate the task of collecting external and internal intelligence, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was created. This is where R.N. Kao got pitch-forked into a prominent role
The Indian debacle in the 1962 Indo-China war followed by the failure to predict Operation Gibraltar (1965) ed many changes in the Indian security establishment, especially in the intelligence set-up. After 1966, Rameshwar Nath Kao along with P.N. Husker, a Kashmiri Pandit played a seminal role in Indira Gandhi’s momentous decisions between 1967 and 1975.
Husker as Secretary to the then PM helped R.N. Kao to create a separate Foreign Intelligence organization which today is known as Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). As founder of India’s external intelligence agency, Kao built R&AW into such a competent and formidable organization that within three years of its inception it was able to harness Pakistan’s anti-Bengali campaign in the then East Pakistan to India’s advantage , leading to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
For his professional capability and integrity, Kao held an international prestige. Through the creation of Bangladesh, he was able to provide the much needed security to India from its eastern flank. His other important contribution was the snatching away of Himalayan region of Sikkim from under China’s nose and making it a part of the Indian Union. The remarkable work that he did in building up a clandestine relationship with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, yielded desirable consequences in strengthening the bond of trust between the two nations. He was also the architect of India’s elite National Security Guards (NSG).
After nurturing R&AW for nine years, Kao retired but Mrs. Indira Gandhi insisted on giving him an extension and Kao was appointed as her Security advisor and did valuable and quiet work during this period.
He was a great visionary and worked for India’s national interests ceaselessly. He displayed pragmatism in his approach and commitment to pursue national interests. Yet he showed his disapproval of the declaration of emergency administration in the country.
Kao displayed strong pride in his Kashmiri ancestry and was firmly rooted in Indian civilization. Even in his retirement days when he was not involved with any affairs of the State, he kept himself fully informed about the happenings in the valley.
Kao was a profound patriot whose life-long passion was to strengthen India’s national security
Pt. R. N. Kao who changed India’s geography remained unsung and honored. Hardly our younger generation knows about his great contribution to India’s national security and independence. He was really an extra-ordinary spymaster who established some rare post-independence institutions in a tumultuous era when the cold war was at its highest fury and Pakistan’s hostility was unremitting. He had been the second biggest name in Indian intelligence after that of his one-time boss B.N. Mullick, who ran the entire intelligence set-up throughout the Nehruvian era and after.
He would always be remembered as an institution builder, a gentleman who shaped much of R&AW culture and ethos in its early years. The R&AW makes it a point to celebrate each achievement remembering R.N. Kao. The organization holds an annual lecture named as R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture and has recently named its training institute as R.N. Kao Training Academy.
He was an institutional builder of high ranking. Rarely in the intelligence world do individuals arise around whom entire institutions are built and whose personality leaves indelible marks on the society as a whole. His personal contributions to an exciting and significant chapter of India’s history should have been written in the letters of gold. He was the real author of India’s intelligence service history and has been described as a master spy of the 20th century. Kao passed away in the early hours of 20 January 2002. The glorious chapter in the history of Indian intelligence has ended.