Editing Research and Analysis Wing (section)

==List of R&AW Secretaries==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! No.
! Name
! Took office
! Left office
! Notes
|-
| 1
| [[R. N. Kao]]
| 1968
| 1977
| Founder of R&AW, ARC<br>• [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]<br>• [[Operation Smiling Buddha]]<br>• Amalgamation of [[Sikkim]]<br>• [[ELINT]] operation with the [[CIA]] against China
|-
| 2
| [[K. Sankaran Nair]]
| 1977
| 1977
| Resigned from service in protest of downgrading the designation of Head of R&AW as Director, R&AW instead of Secretary (R).
|-
| 3
| N. F. Suntook
| 1977
| 1983
| Founder Director of RRC (Radio Research Centre), [[Electronics and Technical Services|ETS]]<br>• Executed [[Operation Lal Dora]]
|-
| 4
| [[Girish Chandra Saxena]]
| 1983
| 1986
| • Collaborated with the Intelligence Agencies of United States, the erstwhile [[USSR]], China, [[Iran]], Afghanistan, [[Saudi Arabia]], etc. <br>• [[Kanishka Bombing]]<br>• [[Operation Blue Star]]
|-
| 5
| S. E. Joshi
| 1986
| 1987
| • Continued collaboration with Intelligence Agencies<br>• During his tenure, the post of Director of R&AW was re-designated as Secretary (R), and this designation has continued since then.
|-
| 6
| A. K. Verma
| 1987
| 1990
| • [[Operation Cactus]]<br>• [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]]
|-
| 7
| G. S. Bajpai
| 1990
| 1991
| Counter Insurgency operations
|-
| 8
| N. Narasimhan
| 1991
| 1993
|
|-
| 9
| J. S. Bedi
| 1993
| 1993
| Chief during [[1993 Mumbai bombings]]<br>• Specialist in China, Pakistan and counter terrorism.
|-
| 10
| A. S. Syali
| 1993
| 1996
| • Increased economic surveillance <br>• Emphasis on advanced training and more recruitment
|-
| 11
| Ranjan Roy
| 1996
| 1997
| Negotiation on [[Farkhor Air Base]]
|-
| 12
| [[Arvind Dave]]
| 1997
| 1999
| • [[Kargil War]]<br>• [[Operation Shakti]]
|-
| 13
| [[A. S. Dulat]]
| 1999
| 2000
| • Negotiated with [[IC 814]] hijackers<ref>'Advani pressed for release of terrorist', ''Hindustan Times'', Saturday, 18 April 2009, Page 1</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1702/17020040.htm |title=Kashmir After Kandahar |publisher=Hinduonnet.com |access-date=4 March 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304192006/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1702/17020040.htm |archive-date=4 March 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><br>• Tenure marred by allegations of incompetence and mishandling.
|-
| 14
| [[Vikram Sood]]
| 13 December 2000
| 31 March 2003
| Founder of [[National Technical Facilities Organisation|National Technical Research Organisation]]
|-
| 15
| [[C. D. Sahay]]
| 1 April 2003
| 31 January 2005
| • Revamped ARC <br>• Inauguration of R&AW headquarters at Lodi Road, New Delhi
|-
| 16
| [[P. K. H. Tharakan]]
| 1 February 2005
| 31 January 2007
| • Served an instrumental role in setting up of [[Nuclear Command Authority (India)]] <br>• Negotiated the end of [[Nepalese Civil War]] and helped warring parties to sign the [[Comprehensive Peace Accord]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/fierce-one|title=The Fierce One|work=The Caravan|access-date=25 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322172426/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/fierce-one|archive-date=22 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|-
| 17
| [[Ashok Chaturvedi]]
| 1 February 2007
| 31 January 2009
|• Tenure marred by many allegations of nepotism and corruption<br>• Investigation of [[2007 Samjhauta Express bombings|Samjhauta bombings]]
|-
| 18
| [[K. C. Verma]]
| 1 February 2009
| 30 December 2010
| Investigation of [[2008 Mumbai attacks]]
|-
| 19
| [[Sanjeev Tripathi]]
| 30 December 2010
| 29 December 2012
|
|-
| 20
| [[Alok Joshi]]
| 30 December 2012
| 30 December 2014
|
|-
| 21
| [[Rajinder Khanna]]
| 31 December 2014
| 31 December 2016
| • [[2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar]]<br>• [[2016 Indian Line of Control strike]]
|-
|22
|[[Anil Dhasmana]]
|1 January 2017
|29 June 2019<ref>[https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1575847 Approvals of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet], Press Information Bureau, 26 June 2019, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210910061456/https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1575847 archived copy]</ref>
|• [[Operation Sunrise (2019)|Operation Sunrise]]<br>• [[2019 Balakot airstrike]]
|-
|23
|[[Samant Goel]]
|1 July 2019
| 30 June 2023
|• [[Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir|Abrogation of Article 370 and 35A]]
|-
| 24
| [[Ravi Sinha]]
| 1 July 2023
| [[Incumbent]]
|
|}

Most of the [[Secretary to Government of India|Secretaries]] of Research and Analysis Wing have been [[Indian Police Service]] (IPS) officers. R. N. Kao and K. Sankaran Nair belonged to the [[Imperial Police]] (IP), of the British colonial days which was renamed as the Indian Police Service after Indian Independence in 1947. N. F. Suntook had served in the [[Indian Navy]], then in the Indian Police Service and in the Indian Frontier Administration Service. Vikram Sood was from the [[Indian Postal Service]] (IPoS) and was later permanently absorbed in the [[#Recruitment|Research and Analysis Service]] (RAS) cadre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/02spec3.htm |title=A RAW hand |work=Rediff.com |access-date=28 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531062908/http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/02spec3.htm |archive-date=31 May 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Now he acts as Advisor to Fair Observer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fairobserver.com/advisors |title=Fair Observer - Advisors |access-date=2011-09-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927023147/http://fairobserver.com/advisors |archive-date=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }} Fair Observer Advisor List</ref> A. S. Dulat was an Indian Police Service officer deputed from the [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]]. All the chiefs have been experts on [[China]] or [[Pakistan]] except for [[Ashok Chaturvedi]], who was an expert on [[Nepal]].<ref name="A RAW hand: Rediff.com news" />