Vikram Sood is a former head of India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), as well as a consultant to the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based independent public policy think tank.
Sood worked for the Indian Postal Service before joining the intelligence agency R&AW, where he eventually served as spymaster from 2000 to 2003. On March 31, 2003, he retired as a career intelligence officer after 31 years of service. During his induction, he was mentored by B. Raman and interviewed by R&AW’s founding secretary R.N. Kao.
Education
Sood earned a master’s degree in economics from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College.
Books by Vikram Sood
Vikram Sood is the author of The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights into Espionage, which was published in 2018 and is a beginner’s introduction to intelligence and espionage.
Sood released The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights on Espionage with Penguin Viking in 2018. Sood’s book is not a memoir, but a beginner’s introduction to espionage and a reference manual on intelligence, according to him.
The book, which is divided into three concept-related sections titled “Tradecraft,” “Inside Intelligence,” and “What Lies Ahead,” covers espionage during the two world wars, secret societies, psychological warfare in India, KGB and CIA interference in Indian politics, Pakistan and the ISI, as well as intelligence failures around the world, including the 9/11 and 26/11 attacks, among other topics.
The book was reviewed by Vappala Balachandran, who called it “a low-profile but solid addition.”
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Career of Vikram Sood
Vikram Sood was a member of India’s public service, the Indian Postal Service (IPoS), and was assigned to the Research and Analysis Service (RAS) cadre in 1966.
In a Rediff personal tribute, Vikram Sood mentions B. Raman, one of R&AW’s founders, as his mentor. He first met Raman in 1972, when he was appointed to understudy and eventually take over his duties until 1974.
In 1983, Sood was requested to take over the reins from Raman once more, then again when Raman retired in 1994.
Sood’s appointment was unique in that he was appointed R&AW chief without having ever served as a police officer. S Sunderrajan, a Delhi-based Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, had been replaced by Sood. Sood was the Director-General of R&AW from 2000 to 2003, while Atal Bihari Vajpayee was India’s Prime Minister.
On March 31, 2003, he retired as a career intelligence officer after 31 years of service. He was the designated Secretary (R) and Director General of Security as the head of R&AW.
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