The Directorate of Military Intelligence (M.I.) is the Intelligence arm of the Indian Army. The primary mission of military intelligence is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence support to tactical, operational and strategic-level needs of the army. It also conducts counter-intelligence activities to detect, identify and neutralize adversarial intelligence threats inside Indian Army.

Organisation

Approximately 3,700 military personnel are assigned to intelligence duties. These personnel are trained at Military Intelligence Training School and Depot (MINTSD), Pune. The operational geographical mandate of the organization is set to 50 km from the border.

History

The agency was set up in 1941 as part of the erstwhile

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

to generate field intelligence for the army, in the Second World War. After Independence, M.I. was initially tasked with generating only tactical or field intelligence in all countries bordering India. In 1978, the directorate was involved in the

Samba spy scandal The Samba Military Spy Scandal was a cold war military intelligence program which eventually emerged as a scandal in 1979. According to the Indian Army, the military program was run by the MI of Pakistan to seek information on the Indian Army's ...

, wherein it was later found that the directorate had falsely implicated three Indian Army officers as Pakistani spies.

Operations

In early 1957, 2 M.I. officers had infiltrated into Chinese territory and carried out a Reconnaissance operation. It was due to this operation, that indian government got first-hand evidence that China had illegally built a road in Aksai Chin. The personnel had joined a group of yak grazers in disguise and gathered the first-hand evidence. In late 1990s, M.I. officers were also deployed in Tajikistan and later into Afghanistan, in support of the

Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan Wa ...

–led Northern Alliance that overthrew the Taliban in 2001 with the aid of the US-led coalition forces in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War in Afghanistan. M.I. was also active in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, which nurtured insurgent groups. In 1998, a M.I. operative impersonated a Khalistani terrorist and infiltrated a gun-running Myanmar insurgent group. He led them into a death trap in the

Andaman islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

. Operation Leech, as the operation was called, marked the start of the outreach of the Indian Army to the

Burmese junta Military rule in Myanmar (also known as Burma) lasted from 1962 to 2011 and resumed in 2021. Myanmar gained its independence from the British Empire in 1948 under the Burmese Independence Army, as a democratic nation. The first military rule beg ...

in the 1990s. It also aimed to offset the expanding footprint of China on the eastern border of India. M.I. has carried out operations in Bangladesh too because of safe sanctuaries provided to insurgent groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam (U.L.F.A.), the United National Liberation Front of Manipur (U.N.L.F.) and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation. Within months of the Hasina government taking over in 2009, the entire leadership of the U.L.F.A. and the U.N.L.F. was handed over to Indian authorities. In January 2012, the M.I. warned Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, about a coup brewing in the Bangladeshi Army which was ultimately foiled. Since 2005, M.I. is also involved in hundreds of cross-border counter terrorism strikes across LOC, into Pakistan. Most notable being 2016 Surgical strike.

Military Intelligence Training School & Depot

Military Intelligence Training School & Depot (MINTSD) at Pune trains intelligence professionals of Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Para Military Forces, Civil Intelligence Agencies and Friendly Foreign Countries. It started modestly in Karachi on 20 January 1941. MINTSD moved through Murree in July 1947 and after partition to Mhow in November 1947 and finally to its present location in Pune in September 1952. It offers the following courses under the

Savitribai Phule Pune University Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

- Diplomas in Combat Intelligence and Security, Management of Intelligence and Security Teams, Management of Intelligence and Security Teams, Security, Security and Intelligence Tradecraft; P.G. Diploma in Combat Intelligence Analysis and Management, Intelligence Tradecraft and Practice, Satellite and Aerial Imagery Interpretation and Security with Specialization in Counter Intelligence.

References

{{Indian_intelligence_agencies 1941 establishments in British India Defence agencies of India Government agencies established in 1941 Indian intelligence agencies Military intelligence agencies Military communications of India

Organisation

History

Operations

Military Intelligence Training School & Depot

See also

References