The Indian Political Intelligence Office (IPIO) was an
intelligence organisation
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives.
Means of informatio ...
initially established in
England in 1909 in response to the dissemination of anarchist and
revolutionary elements of Indian nationalism to different countries in Europe after the liquidation of
India House (where it was based between 1905 and 1910) in London in 1909. It formally came to be called the Indian Political Intelligence (IPI) from 1921.
By the time
World War I broke out the IPIO, headed by
John Wallinger, had been established in mainland Europe. In scale, this office was larger than those operated by the
British War Office, approaching the size of the European intelligence network of the
Secret Service Bureau
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
. This network already had agents in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
against possible German intrigues. After the outbreak of the war, Wallinger, under the cover of an officer of the British General Headquarters, proceeded to France where he operated out of
Paris, working with the French Political Police, the
Sûreté.
[: "With the outbreak of the First World War the Indian intelligence network set up by Superintendent Wallinger ... within the general structure of British intelligence in Europe ... In scale it was not much smaller than the European intelligence operations of the Secret Service Bureau, let alone those of the War Office. Moreover, John Wallinger already controlled agents operating in Switzerland, which was to become an important centre of German intrigue ... ehad cultivated friendly relations with the Paris political police, the ''Sūreté''.
]
Notes
References
International Institute for Asian Studies: Indian Political Intelligence Files Released for Research
*.
Indian intelligence agencies
Hindu–German Conspiracy
Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
World War I espionage
Government of British India
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