The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

responsible for providing and coordinating defence and

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

to the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. It was created in March 2002 and is administered within the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

History

The creation of an intelligence agency coordinating the intelligence arms of the three military services had long been called for by senior Indian military officers. It was formally recommended by the Cabinet Group of Ministers, headed by the then

Deputy Prime Minister of India The deputy prime minister of India (IAST: ''Bhārat Ke Upapradhānamantrī''), although not a Constitutional post, is the second-highest ranking minister of the Union in the executive branch of the Government of India and is a senior member of ...

Lal Krishna Advani. The Group of Ministers investigated intelligence lapses that occurred during the Kargil War and recommended a comprehensive reform of Indian intelligence agencies. The Defence Intelligence Agency was created and became operational in March, 2002. As part of expanding bilateral cooperation on gathering intelligence and fighting terrorism, the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

also provided advice to Indian military officers on the creation of the DIA.

Organisation

Director General

The Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency is the head of the entire organisation. The director general is the principal advisor on intelligence to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff. The post of the director general will be held in rotation between the three armed services. The first Director General of the DIA was Lt. Gen. Kamal Davar, former director of the mechanised forces of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. The Director General of the Agency is assisted by the Deputy Director General, held first by Air Marshal S. C. Malhan.

Nodal agency

DIA is the nodal agency for all defence related intelligence, thus distinguishing it from the other Indian intelligence internal and external agencies. DIA controls the

' technical intelligence assets – the Directorate of Signals Intelligence, a tri-service agency, and the Defence Image Processing and Analysis Centre (DIPAC). While the Signals Directorate is responsible for acquiring and decrypting enemy communications, the DIPAC controls India's satellite-based image acquisition capabilities. The DIA also coordinates the Defence Information Warfare Agency (DIWA) which handles all elements of the information warfare repertoire, including psychological operations, cyber-war, electronic intercepts and the monitoring of sound waves. Its operations are highly classified and has several successes to its credit which will remain a secret.

Functions

Before the creation of the Defence Intelligence Agency, the military intelligence capability of India's armed forces was limited to Field Intelligence Units (FIU) and separate intelligence arms of the services. These distinct services were not able to effectively coordinate intelligence operations and sharing of information. The armed forces also heavily relied on civilian intelligence agencies such as the Research and Analysis Wing and the Intelligence Bureau. With wide-ranging resources and functions, the DIA will be superior to and coordinate the Directorate of Military Intelligence, Directorate of Air Intelligence and the Directorate of Naval Intelligence.

References