Vikram Sood
Vikram Sood | |
---|---|
Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing | |
In office 2000–2003 | |
Preceded by | A. S. Dulat |
Succeeded by | C. D. Sahay |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Indian |
Profession | Spymaster |
Vikram Sood is the former head of
He was trained under the mentorship of
Academic Education
Sood did his M.A. in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.[1]
Career
Sood was an officer of the
Sood's appointment was different from others, as he became a R&AW chief without having served as a police officer.
As of 2019, Sood has been acting as an advisor to the Observer Research Foundation, an independent public policy think tank in New Delhi.[1] He writes regularly on national security, foreign relations and strategic issues.[9]
Views
Pakistan
At the event for his book launch, The Unending Game, Sood said that the Pakistan Army is the "largest corporate entity in Pakistan" and that Kashmir is being used by the Pakistan Army merely as a justification to maintain power in Pakistan.[10][11] Sood takes a hardline stance, saying that Pakistan would need to "shut the machinery of terrorism" and provide proof that changes are happening for dialogue to happen.[12] In 2016 he had voiced similar opinions, stating that dialogue with Pakistan is pointless and that unless Pakistan changes its approach, dialogue between the two countries should not happen.[13]
In relation to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national who is in Pakistan's custody since March 2016 and is being tried by a military court on alleged charges of being a R&AW agent, Sood says that Pakistan has no "leverage" over India because of this matter. In an interview in 2019 he stated, "No spy worth his salt will be caught with his passport. The charges against him are laughable."[14]
China
When it comes to China-Pakistan links, Sood is of the opinion that China takes actions such as supporting Pakistan in the UNSC in relation to Masood Azhar because of fear of retaliation from Islamic groups in Xinjiang (an autonomous region in China which partly borders Pakistan) other than of course protecting their interests in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan in relation to CPEC.[15][16][17] When it comes to just China, Sood says that the capabilities of China are much more than Pakistan and that India should take note.[12] This statement was made during a seminar on 17 February 2019, three days after the Pulwama attack, where he had also said, "China in control of Pakistan is even worse."[16]
Publications
In 2018 Sood wrote,
References
- ^ a b "Vikram Sood". Observer Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Kutty, C K (2 February 2005). "A RAW hand". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Vikram Sood, new RAW chief". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 13 December 2000. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ a b c Sood, Vikram (17 June 2013). "A personal tribute and salute to B Raman". Rediff. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Yadav, RK (22 September 2016). "How RAW, India's intelligence agency, fared under 21 spymasters in 48 years". DailyO. India Today Group. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ North, Andrew (4 December 2012). "Why al-Qaeda finds no recruits in India". BBC.
- ^ Dutta, Amrita Nayak (2 December 2018). "From UPSC to RAW chief, Indian postal service officers keep beating IAS, IPS to top posts". The Print. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ "Who will succeed RAW chief Vikram Sood?". Rediff. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ People. "Vikram Sood". Observer Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ "Pakistan's army is a corporate entity that supplies heroin all over country: Former R&AW chief". The Print. PTI. 14 August 2018. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Kumar, Aishwarya (14 August 2018). "Kashmir Is An Excuse For Pakistan Army To Control Pakistan: Former RAW Chief Vikram Sood". News18. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ a b Sibbal, Siddhant (23 August 2018). "Former RAW chief Vikram Sood: Wrong time for Pak talks". dna. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ "Talks useless until Pakistan changes it attitude: Ex-RAW chief Vikram Sood". The Indian Express. Asian News International. 4 October 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Talukdar, Sreemoy (14 January 2019). "Pakistan lacks leverage over India on Kulbhushan Jadhav, no spy worth his salt will be caught with passport: ex-R&AW chief Vikram Sood". Firstpost. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ Suares, Coreena (18 February 2019). "India must spend more on intelligence, says Ex-RAW chief Vikram Sood". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Pulwama attack not handiwork of single man, says Ex-RAW chief". The Economic Times. Press Trust of India. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Sood, Vikram (12 July 2018). "Surgical strikes in PoK open up several valid options to keep Pakistan in check". The Economic Times. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Ghose, Sandip (12 August 2018). "For espionage buffs, ex-Raw chief Vikram Sood's 'The Unending Game' is a fascinating read". The Print. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Kashani, Sarwar (8 August 2018). "The not-so-raunchy side of the world of spies". Yahoo News India. IANS India Private Limited. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Banerjie, Indranil (3 August 2018). "Espionage is much more than cloak and dagger ops". The Asian Age. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ "Intelligence agency heads should be selected on performance - Ex-R&AW chief". The Economic Times. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ Sarin, Ritu (25 August 2018). "A delicate truth". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Balachandran, Vappala (31 August 2018). "The Unending Game by Vikram Sood: The shadowy world of espionage". India Today. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.