WASHINGTON: Recently declassified documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 indicate that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had maintained secret hideouts in New Delhi and Kolkata. These records released by the US National Archives and Records Administration also include information about the secret operations and hideouts of the US intelligence agency in India and many other places around the world.
CIA had built bases in India
According to the documents made public, the CIA's New York division oversaw secret bases in several locations, including New Delhi and Kolkata in India, Rawalpindi in Pakistan, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Tehran in Iran, Seoul in South Korea and Tokyo in Japan. Some of these sites have been the subject of legal investigations, which alleged that detainees were held without formal charges or trial.
Documents released after Trump's order
Following an order from President Donald Trump, the US National Archives released about 2,200 previously classified documents on its website. It is part of a wider collection of more than six million pages of records, photographs and other materials related to the Kennedy assassination, most of which had already been made public.
CIA's most bases against Russia
The CIA's secret facilities or "black sites" have historically been used for intelligence activities, including surveillance, espionage and, in some cases, the detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists. The CIA has been accused of setting up and operating such spy bases in several countries in Europe, including Ukraine. These bases have been allegedly used in intelligence operations against Russia.
India's historical ties with the CIA
According to a Business Standard report, India has a history of engagement with the CIA, especially during the Cold War era. In 2013, a de-classified document revealed that India allowed the US to use the Charbatia airbase in Odisha to refuel CIA-operated U-2 spy planes during surveillance missions over Chinese territory in 1962.
India-US together against China
The report claims that after independence, India sought US assistance in developing its intelligence infrastructure. In 1949, the director of India's Intelligence Bureau, T G Sanjivi, collaborated with the CIA primarily to keep an eye on Communist China. After China occupied Tibet in 1950, India was also accused of aiding Tibetan resistance fighters with the support of the CIA. The CIA also played a key role in the Dalai Lama's escape to India in 1959.
