Inside the Secret World of South Asia's Spies

Grand Tamasha

Spy Stories: Inside the Secret World of the RAW and the ISI is the brand new book by investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark. Spy Stories relies on unprecedented access to top military and intelligence officials in both India and Pakistan to shed light on some of the most consequential crises in recent South Asian history—from the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, to the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden, and the suicide bombing in Pulwama on the eve of India’s 2019 general election.

This week on the show, Milan sits down with Levy to discuss the secret world of South Asia’s top spies. The two discuss the different trajectories of the ISI and RAW, the defining character of India’s current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the roots of turmoil in Kashmir, and the long shadow of the IC 814 hijacking. Plus, Milan asks Adrian about the terror outlook for India in the wake of America’s Afghanistan exit.

1. “What the Taliban Takeover Means for India,” Grand Tamasha, September 14, 2021.
2. Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, The Siege: The Attack on the Taj (Penguin, 2013).
3. Aqil Shah, “How Will the Taliban Deal With Other Islamic Extremist Groups?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, August 31, 2021.