The Kashmir conflict has long been a theatre where ideology, strategy, and Indian raw state power intersect—none more revealingly than through the prism of India’s intelligence apparatus. At the heart of this web lies the figure of A.S. Dulat, former chief of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), whose books and public commentary expose the layered complexity of New Delhi’s approach to Kashmir. The trajectory of A.S. Dulat from an intelligence officer to a seasoned strategic thinker reflects a carefully engineered dual policy in Kashmir—where the iron hand of the state is balanced by the velvet glove of engagement.
This approach operates in tandem: while one arm of the Indian establishment enforces strict measures, the other projects a softer image, cultivating relationships, managing emotions, and conducting backchannel diplomacy.”This synthesis of hard and soft power has become a hallmark of India’s Kashmir strategy—an approach that demands both tactical precision and strategic depth. Its immediate impact was the creation of fissures within the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). The group was subtly divided: one faction was labeled ‘hardline,’ while the other was portrayed as ‘moderate.’ This engineered division was followed by a widely publicized meeting between the so-called moderate Hurriyat leaders and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in January 2004.The outcome of this engagement is evident to any keen observer of the region’s peace dynamics: it yielded symbolic gestures but no substantial resolution, while simultaneously diluting the unified voice of Kashmiri resistance. Dulat, an IPS cadre officer, was embedded deep within the Indian intelligence apparatus when Indian democracy was manipulated in Kashmir and rebellion erupted in the 1990s. As the Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Kashmir during this period, he quickly realized the difference between short-term tactical gains and long-term strategic objectives.
While Indian forces were fighting freedom fighters on the ground, Dulat focused on rebuilding the intelligence network—this time by inducting loyal members of the Kashmiri minority community into the IB, particularly after the majority-led JK Police had eroded. This was Dulat’s first strategic stroke—restoring the intelligence grid using indigenous assets. He highlights this in his first book, The Vajpayee Years, where he credits native Kashmiri officers as the unsung architects of India’s intelligence revival in the Valley.
As RAW chief from 1999 to 2000, and later as Advisor on Kashmir Affairs in the PMO (2001–2004) under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dulat operated with access to primary data, allowing him to apply inductive reasoning based on ground realities—something most academics and analysts lack, as they often rely on secondary sources and emotions.
His intimate knowledge of the emotions and psychological contours of the Kashmiri populace made him uniquely capable of managing both insurgency and perception. Despite his soft public image and eloquent prose, Dulat’s methods were never without agenda. He is best described as an intellectual spymaster—an expert in manipulating narratives and emotions while building covert networks of influence. He forged close ties with Dr. Farooq Abdullah and the Sheikh family, creating the illusion of friendship while subtly steering the political discourse. In his recent book, The Spy and the Chief Minister, Dulat reveals that Dr. Farooq Abdullah met Prime Minister Modi weeks before the abrogation of Article 370—an event Dr. Abdullah publicly denied until Dulat exposed it. Such revelations unveil how Dulat used personal relationships as strategic assets—leveraging them first for intelligence gains and later for public narrative building through his books.
While Dulat’s language is diplomatic and his tools are psychological, the core of his mission aligns with the BJP’s goals—undermining resistance, integrating Kashmir into the Indian Union, and neutralizing separatist voices. The difference lies in method, not ideology. A.S. Dulat and the BJP represent two modes of the same doctrine: the centralized management of Kashmir’s political will. Where the BJP relies on overt coercion, Dulat champions covert co-optation. His polished prose and intellectual gravitas may suggest a more humane strategy, but his ultimate loyalty is unflinching—to the Indian state’s strategic objective of complete control over Kashmir.
Dulat’s writings—whether in The Vajpayee Years or The Spy and the Chief Minister—serve not only as memoirs but as blueprints of psychological warfare. For students of the Kashmir conflict, they are essential texts—not because they offer solutions, but because they expose how deeply personal relationships, manipulation, and perception management are embedded in the architecture of modern statecraft.Kashmir is a paradox—a place of breathtaking beauty shadowed by barbed wire and boots. Behind the overt militarism that defines India’s presence in the Valley lies a quieter, subtler battle: one of minds, loyalties, and narratives. A.S. Dulat, India’s former spymaster, is not just a footnote. His policy speaks of a state that wages two wars at once—with Kashmiris caught in Indian occupation for decades—one with state guns, the other with gifts. The same hand that sanctions surveillance extends invitations to dialogue. The same government that enforces curfews whispers promises of healing. This duality isn’t an accident—it is strategy.
