Directorate of Military Intelligence (India)

Approximately 3,700 military personnel are assigned to intelligence duties. These personnel are trained at Military Intelligence Training School and Depot (MINTSD), Pune.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Military-intelligence-training-school-completes-75-years/articleshow/50836967.cms|title=Military intelligence training school completes 75 years|access-date=3 February 2016|newspaper=Times Of India|date=3 February 2016 }}

The operational geographical mandate of the organization is set to 50 km from the border.

The agency was set up in 1941 as part of the erstwhile British Indian Army to generate field intelligence for the army, in the Second World War. After India's independence, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (M.I.) was initially tasked with generating only tactical or field intelligence in all countries bordering India.

In 1978, the directorate was involved in the Samba spy scandal, wherein it was later found that the directorate had falsely implicated three Indian Army officers as Pakistani spies.{{cite news |title=The Samba Case, the Indian army's darkest chapter |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/may/29samba.htm |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=Reddif}}{{cite news |last1=Chawla |first1=Prabhu |title=Samba spy case takes dramatic turn as officers challenge dismissal order in HC |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/investigation/story/19800430-samba-spy-case-takes-dramatic-turn-as-officers-challenge-dismissal-order-in-hc-806631-2014-02-01 |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=India Today |agency=Living Media India Limited |date=1 February 2014}}

In early 1957, 2 M.I. officers had infiltrated into Chinese territory and carried out a reconnaissance operation. It was due to this operation, that Indian government got first-hand evidence that China had illegally built a road in Aksai Chin. The personnel had joined a group of yak grazers in disguise and gathered the first-hand evidence.{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jawaharlal-nehru-ignored-intelligence-report-of-chinese-road-in-indian-territory-in-1957-book/articleshow/78096926.cms|title=Jawaharlal Nehru ignored intelligence report of Chinese road in Indian territory in 1957: Book|date=14 September 2020|publisher=Times Of India}}

In late 1990s, M.I. officers were also deployed in Tajikistan and later into Afghanistan, in support of the Ahmad Shah Massoud–led Northern Alliance that overthrew the Taliban in 2001 with the aid of the US-led coalition forces in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War in Afghanistan.

M.I. was also active in Myanmar, which nurtured insurgent groups. In 1998, a M.I. operative impersonated a Khalistani terrorist and infiltrated a gun-running Myanmar insurgent group. He led them into a death trap in the Andaman islands.{{cite news |last1=Goel |first1=Kritika |title=Operation Leech: What Was This Military Op & What Went Down? |url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/indian-army-operation-leech-what-was-military-operation-what-went-down |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=The Quint |agency=Quintillion Media Pvt Ltd}} Operation Leech, as the operation was called, marked the start of the outreach of the Indian Army to the Burmese junta in the 1990s. It also aimed to offset the expanding footprint of China on the eastern border of India.

M.I. has carried out operations in Bangladesh too because of safe sanctuaries provided to insurgent groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam (U.L.F.A.), the United National Liberation Front of Manipur (U.N.L.F.) and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation.{{cite news |last1=Swami |first1=Praveen |title=India's secret war in Bangladesh |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/indias-secret-war-in-bangladesh/article2747538.ece |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=The Hindu |agency=The Hindu Group |date=26 December 2011}} Within months of the Hasina government taking over in 2009, the entire leadership of the U.L.F.A. and the U.N.L.F. was handed over to Indian authorities.

In January 2012, the M.I. warned Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, about a coup brewing in the Bangladeshi Army which was ultimately foiled.

Since 2005, M.I. is also involved in hundreds of cross-border counter terrorism strikes across LOC, into Pakistan. Most notable being 2016 Surgical strike.{{cite news |last1=Negi |first1=Manjeet Singh |title=Surgical strikes in PoK: How Indian para commandos killed 50 terrorists, hit 7 camps |url=http://indiatoday.in/india/story/uri-avenged-inside-story-indian-army-surgical-strikes-pok-343995-2016-09-29 |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=India Today |agency=Living Media India Limited}}

File:MINTSD.jpg

Military Intelligence Training School & Depot (MINTSD) at Pune trains intelligence professionals of Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Paramilitary forces, civil intelligence agencies and friendly foreign countries. It started modestly in Karachi on 20 January 1941. MINTSD moved through Murree in July 1947 and, after the partition of India, to Mhow in November 1947 and finally to its present location in Pune in September 1952.{{cite web|url=https://www.punekarnews.in/75-glorious-years-of-military-intelligence-training-school-and-depot-mintsd/|title=75 glorious years of Military Intelligence Training School And Depot (MINTSD)|date=2016-01-20|access-date=2021-05-29}}{{cite web|url=https://www.philamart.com/Listing/Details/3071363/Military-Intelligence-Training-School-And-DepotIndian-Army-Postal-Cover|title=Military Intelligence Training School And Depot-Indian Army Postal Cover|date=2016-01-20|access-date=2021-05-29}}

It offers the following courses under the Savitribai Phule Pune University - Diplomas in Combat Intelligence and Security, Management of Intelligence and Security Teams, Management of Intelligence and Security Teams, Security, Security and Intelligence Tradecraft; P.G. Diploma in Combat Intelligence Analysis and Management, Intelligence Tradecraft and Practice, Satellite and Aerial Imagery Interpretation and Security with Specialization in Counter Intelligence.{{cite web|url=http://bcud.unipune.ac.in/utilities/college_search/IMMP019010_ENG/Pune_University_College|title=Colleges, Research Centers and University Department Details|date=|access-date=2021-05-29}}

• Defence Intelligence Agency
• Directorate of Air Intelligence
• Directorate of Naval Intelligence
• Technical Support Division

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Category:1941 establishments in British India

Category:Defence agencies of India

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Category:Indian intelligence agencies

Category:Military intelligence agencies

Category:Military communications of India