Yashaswi Mishra
India’s military intelligence infrastructure faces the largest challenge in history since it has to contend with a geopolitics of security threats in the form of two nuclear-capable neighbors, China and Pakistan. With the borders tense, proxy wars, and technical surveillance on the rise, India’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Corps of Military Intelligence (CMI) are adapting at an unprecedented rate to contend with hybrid threats. This shift involves employing new technologies, realigning strategies, and enhancing interagency coordination to maintain strategic leverage. The two-front challenge of Pakistan and China compels India to adopt a multi-dimensional approach. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has enhanced its surveillance and cyber warfare capabilities, inducting advanced systems like AI-powered drones along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The recent events, such as the 2020 Galwan Valley confrontation, revealed shortfalls in real-time situational awareness. Indian intelligence is presently concentrating on PLA facility monitoring using space, security from Chinese state-sponsored hacking units such as APT41, and countering psychological operations (PSYOPS) to destabilize border towns. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), meanwhile, continues to sponsor cross-border terrorism, the most recent instance being the 2019 Pulwama attack. Indian Military Intelligence (IMI) is closely monitoring terrorism financing by hawala networks in Jammu & Kashmir, thwarting weapon smuggling using drones along the Punjab border, and neutralizing efforts at conducting radicalization campaigns against Indian youth through social media. The application of newer technologies like AI and machine learning helps analyze large amounts of data for forecasting and prevention of such attacks. India is fighting back by spending a small fortune on advanced technologies. The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) operates the NETRA system that uses AI to scour social media for extremist messages and intercept satellite communications. NETRA picked up over 12,000 suspicious posts in 2023 that were tracked back to Pakistani proxies. RISAT-2BR1, launched in 2022, provides all-weather surveillance of Chinese military activity on the Tibet border and terror camps at Pakistan’s Balakot to support preemptive strikes.
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