IB and RAW passing bucks on Nepal issue: Ex RAW official

A former senior official of India's Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) has said that the external intelligence agency is engaged in a blame-game with another similar Indian outfit, Intelligence Bureau (IB), when it comes to issues in areas bordering Nepal.

Talking to Navin Singh Khadka of BBC Nepali Service, S Chandrashekharan, a former senior RAW official, who was with the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in the late 70s until early 80s, said, "Actually this side of the border, RAW has nothing to do with all that. It is the IB, which is handling everything."

But he conceded that the two intelligence agencies do engage in passing bucks. "I am sure RAW will say it is not our job. If you ask the IB, they will say RAW is responsible for the other side of the border," he said, adding that such overlapping had been happening for many years.

Chandrashekharan who keeps coming to Kathmandu frequently and is a PhD on Nepal's river systems, said that Indian government will not be willing to arrest and hand over insurgent leaders leading their movement in Terai from Indian soil.

"Those madhesi leaders are gaining sympathies increasingly in the Indian side. I don't think anyone would arrest, say, Jwala Singh, because you will have to see the situation in India too."

In the same programme, a Chinese scholar expressed concern over RAW activities in Nepal's Terai.

"We already know about terai situation. There may be some elements trying to take advantage of weak government. There was an article in one of the mass media alleging role of India's RAW. If that is true, it will worry us," said Hu Shisheng, who heads the South Asia Study Centre under the China Institute for Contemporary Relations.

The RAW and IB activities and the Chinese scholar's response expressing concern has come at a time when Prime Minister Girja Prasad Koirala has gone on record stating publicly that the problem in Terai can be solved in minutes with India's help. nepalnews.com sd Feb 14 08

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