Speaker: Amarjit Singh Dulat

This is a book discussion on The Chief Minister and the Spy, a recently published book by Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India's primary intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). As part of the Indian Journalist Association (IJA) conversation series, the IJA President Nabanita Sircar will be in conversation with the author to explore his years of spying in Indian Kashmir, relationship between politicians and intelligence officers, and the current state of peace inside Indian Kashmir.

The discussion is relevant especially after the recent four-day conflict or near-war between India and Pakistan. The discussion aims to explore the nature of conflict, its impact on India's politics and conflict with Pakistan. Not only will there be probing questions about the nature and quality of intelligence but the impact of conditions in Kashmir on war and peace between India and Pakistan, as well as the future of conflict in South Asia.

About the speaker

Amarjit Singh Dulat is a former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), who served in the position under Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. He later joined Vajpayee’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), where his job was to ‘monitor, manage and direct’ the Indian government’s peace initiative in Kashmir. He is also an author of several books.

Chair

Nabanita Sircar is the President of Indian Journalists Association (Europe) and a highly experienced journalist, editor and columnist covering international politics and trade.