America’s Female Spy Rocks Indian Intelligence Citadel

There are lot of red faces in the Indian intelligence agencies with the Third Secretary in the US Embassy in India, Rosanne Minchew, reportedly gaining access to the country’s higly sensitive secrets, including nuclear information. Minchew, who was running a ring with “insiders”, has escaped to the US.

Imagine this scandalous news should be making world headlines on America’s Independence Day! And, worse, the news relates to two great democracies who are emerging as great allies after shedding decades of suspicion!!!

Was Ms Rosanne Minchew spying for the Americans, Pakistanis or Al-Quaeda? At least the US Embassy should clarify this!

Seriously speaking, how did this whole spy network operate? Minchew was reportedly associated with the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum, a key initiative between the two countries to fight global terror, says Sudhi Ranjan Sen of India’s leading news channel NDTV.

She used the Forum as a cover. Her contact was SS Paul, the first person to be arrested for passing secrets from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). He was a computer systems administrator.

NDTV inquiries reveal that he had access to all computers within the NSCS. Even its chief, the Deputy National Security Advisor’s computer is suspected to have been compromised.

Coming close on the heels of the Rabinder Singh episode where another Indian intelligence officer defected to US after being caught out, this new controversy has rattled the Indian security establishment.

The US embassy, on its part, has refused to comment on the sensitive matter.

Under the heading “The Perils of Cooperating with the US”, B. Raman writes in Rediff.com that Indo-US strategic co-operation in various fields — intelligence, military-to-military, nuclear, space, economic — is the flavour of the decade. It acquired its present flavour under the previous government and it has become stronger and stronger under the present government.

“In our fascination for co-operation with the US, we should not let our guard down and forget the fact that the US has never had any qualms about the penetration of the governments and intelligence, national security, military, nuclear and space establishments of even the closest of its close allies.

“Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi understood our vulnerabilities while dealing with the US. She had set up firewalls to protect ourselves from the possible negative consequences of close relations with the US. These firewalls continued to be in place after her.

“The US and the UK tried again and again when P V Narasimha Rao was the prime minister to have these firewalls removed, but he spurned their pressure.

“Their erosion started under the previous government and seems to have continued under the present government. The case of the systems analyst is a wake-up call to examine the risks of close strategic cooperation with the US and protect ourselves against such risks.”

Nearly four known incidents of CIA’s penetration of India’s intelligence have been reported in the past. “Why is US spying on India” by Amar V. Batra discusses the issue.

Says Batra: “Since 1947, India has had a long history of intelligence co-operation relationship with the intelligence agencies of the US and other Western countries as well as with those of the erstwhile USSR, Russia and other East European countries. Underlying all such relationships is an unwritten gentlemen’s agreement that the agencies would not take advantage of this relationship to penetrate each other.

“Most intelligence agencies of the world try to observe this, but not the CIA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They are aggressive and do not care for any dos and don’ts in intelligence cooperation relationships. They do not hesitate to clandestinely penetrate their sister agencies with which they have an official relationship if they get an opportunity to do so.”

Hey! This is surely like committing adultery! In India we respect the institution of marriage, you know!!! Now the question is can the allies trust the great paramour, the US of America?

I am eagerly awaiting the day when the first Indian is caught in the USA spying for India!!! And the icing on the cake would be that this news makes headlines on India’s Indpendence Day celebrated on August 15. After all, in the game of adultery it should be tit for tat!