R. N. Kao
Indian spymaster (1918–2002)
Rameshwar Nath Kao (10 May 1918 – 20 January 2002) was an Indian spymaster, bureaucrat, police officer and Intelligence officer. He is best known for serving as the first secretary of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from its founding in 1968 to 1977. He is regarded as the founding father, who helped build R&AW.
Kao held the position of Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India. He had also, during the course of his long career, served as the personal security chief to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and as security adviser to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He also founded the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) and the Joint Intelligence Committee. An intensely private man, Kao was rarely seen in public post-retirement.
Personal life
Early years
Kao was born in the holy city of Banaras (now Varanasi) in United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) on 10 May 1918 to a Kashmiri Pandit family who migrated from Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was brought up by his uncle Pandit Trilokinath Kao. Encouraged to pursue education, he had his early schooling in the city of Baroda, in the Bombay Presidency. Here he did his matriculation in 1932 and intermediate in 1934.
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