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Declassified records pertaining to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy shed light on secret CIA bases at New Delhi and Kolkata. Released by the US National Archives and Records Administration, these records shed light on the agency’s shadowy operations in India and elsewhere around the world.
The CIA’s New York branch controlled covert facilities in a number of cities, such as New Delhi and Kolkata in India, Rawalpindi in Pakistan, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Tehran in Iran, Seoul in South Korea, and Tokyo in Japan, according to the declassified documents. Some have been tainted with controversy, where detainees have been reported to be detained without the benefit of formal legal proceedings.
The US National Archives revealed around 2,200 previously secret documents on its website, fulfilling an order by former President Donald Trump. The release is part of a vast collection of more than six million pages of records, photos, and other items related to the Kennedy assassination, most of which already had been released.
Covert CIA Operations and Global Presence
The CIA has a past record of opening covert facilities, which are popularly known as “black sites,” for multiple intelligence operations such as surveillance, spying, and in some cases detention and questioning of suspected terrorists. The agency has kept such operations active across the globe, such as in Ukraine, where it has reportedly been running intelligence operations against Russian activity.
These black sites have played a crucial role in carrying out sensitive intelligence operations, frequently going on beyond public oversight. The newly disclosed information about India’s participation in these operations serves to further demonstrate the nation’s participation in international intelligence processes throughout significant moments in history.
India’s Historical Engagement with the CIA
India’s connection with the CIA goes back to the time of the Cold War. A 2013 declassified document revealed that India had allowed the US use of the Charbatia airbase in Odisha to refuel CIA-operated U-2 spy aircraft on spy missions over Chinese airspace in 1962.
After independence, India approached the United States for help in building its intelligence organization. In 1949, T. G. Sanjeevi, director of the Intelligence Bureau of India, cooperated with the CIA to keep track mainly of Communist China. When China invaded Tibet in 1950, India, with the help of the CIA, assisted Tibetan guerrilla fighters.
In addition, the CIA had an active hand in ensuring the escape of the Dalai Lama to India in 1959. After the 1962 Sino-Indian war, the agency provided further intelligence assistance, including setting up a clandestine military camp at Charbatia in Odisha, to enable U-2 overflights over Chinese soil.
These revelations speak to the long-standing history of intelligence cooperation between India and America in the context of regional geopolitical tensions. The more declassified records that come out, the greater the chances of more information on these clandestine operations being revealed, and further insight into the globalized intelligence world of the last century.
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