India's govt changed defence policy to benefit Adani, says a new report

These changes allowed Adani to construct an energy park near the border with Pakistan

Military officers worry it could hurt India's defences

🧵on this new report Please remember that I'm neither endorsing nor dismissing this report

Today, a report appeared in the Guardian by @HannahEP and @ravinair

It claims India's govt changed border security protocols to allow the Adani Group to build a renewable energy park near the Pakistan border

India once spied on America with a powerful Western ally

The two countries tracked America's military using a secret spy network

India's partner in this operation: France

🧵on this story During the 1970s, India's RAW set up a secret coalition to spy on the US Navy in the Indian Ocean

India wanted to work with two US allies - Iran and France - to collect this intelligence

It was a sensitive project that was first thought of by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

PM Modi wants you to read a book by a former CIA officer

It tells the story of how India asked America to join a war against China

🧵on this book PM Modi recommended former CIA officer Bruce Riedel's "JFK's Forgotten Crisis" in Parliament today

This was part of a speech attacking the opposition for its criticism of the govt's foreign policy

Why did he do that?

Well, the quick reason is👇

https://x.com/kanchangupta/status/1886760533854175671?s=48

India secretly bribed Asia's most powerful royal family

The top levels of India's govt were involved in this operation

A senior spy revealed the truth only years later

🧵on Operation Casino In 2008, former Research and Analysis Wing Chief K Sankaran Nair released his autobiography

Nair had been one of RAW's founders and its second ever chief

Along with RN Kao, he was considered one of India's finest spies

In his memoirs, he told the story of a forgotten operation

India wants to be a global power

BUT it has one big problem

India's Foreign Ministry is too small and too broke

And Budget 2025 makes it even poorer

🧵 So let's get into it

In the 2025 Budget, India's Ministry of External Affairs received an allocation of roughly 20,000 crore rupees

That was roughly 0.4% of the total 2025 Budget

Now that isn't too bad and is similar to ministries like Power, Electronics and Labour

China once asked India for help with a dangerous case

Foreign agents were trying to kill China's Prime Minister

India sent its most famous spy to find out the truth

🧵on this spy story In 1955, PM Jawaharlal Nehru authorised a young Indian spy to investigate a major case

An Indian Airlines plane had just been blown up in order to kill China's Premier Zhou Enlai

China accused Taiwan and America of this plot

With global tensions rising, Nehru turned to RN Kao

Republic Day chief guests are the world's most important leaders

And there's a hidden reason why India chooses each of them

Here are the 10 most interesting of the last 75 years🧵 1⃣. President Sukarno, 1950

Indonesia's President Sukarno was India's first ever Chief Guest at Republic Day

He was a strong anti colonialist and admirer of India's freedom struggle

Just 3 years before this, India had evacuated Sukarno to help him escape the Dutch Empire

Donald Trump is back as U.S. President

Here's what that means for us in India🧵 Donald Trump has taken office as America's 47th President

Let's take a look at his policies on India

Starting with the good news

The Cold War ended in 1991

After decades of tension, India and America were trying to fix their relationship

But a curious incident that year shook both countries

(THREAD) In March 1991, Indians woke up to a major headline

"Top Defence Firm Briefs Pentagon On How To Neutralise India," read the lead story of The Telegraph by Seema Sirohi

The story detailed how defence firm General Dynamics had constructed a war scenario featuring India

An American defence giant simulated an attack on India

America would use its deadly new cruise missiles to defeat India

India discovered this and the fallout was explosive

🧵on this story In 1991, America's General Dynamics was holding briefings at major US think tanks

General Dynamics was a Fortune 100 company and one of the world's most powerful defence companies

The firm was looking to sell its new, long range cruise missiles to America's military

India's best spy once disappeared without a trace

His enemies said he had become a CIA agent

BUT he was on a secret mission to save an Indian ally

🧵on this RAW spy story In 1983, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked RAW Chief NF Suntook to go on a mission

Gandhi wanted Suntook to go to Mauritius

This small island country off the coast of Africa was a major Indian ally

But Mauritius was facing a political crisis that needed India's top spy

China wants to sabotage India's economy

China's govt is stopping tech and talent from going to India

Its first target: India's iPhone revolution

🧵on this new story A new report in technology publication Rest of World appeared yesterday

It argues that contract manufacturer Foxconn has halted shipments of specialised equipment from China to iPhone factories in India

Foxconn manufactures iPhones for Apple and has a strong presence in India

A famous politician went on a secret mission for India

India's PM asked him to rescue two men from a powerful Western Empire

His mission freed a nation and destroyed that Empire

🧵on how an Indian politician became a legend in Asia That politician was Biju Patnaik

Today, Patnaik is best known for his time as Chief Minister of Odisha

But in 1947, India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru came to him with a request

Nehru asked Patnaik to carry out a mission to rescue two Asian leaders from the Dutch Empire

China wants to control a vital Indian geopolitical asset

It's funding a massive $100 billion project to achieve this

China could choke India's access to this crucial resource

🧵on this new India-China conflict India and China could be gearing up for a fresh geopolitical conflict

This isn’t a conflict involving guns, soldiers and warfare

But it is a conflict that concerns an absolutely vital geopolitical resource that neither India nor China can live without

That resource is water

Justin Trudeau's resignation is good news for India

Canada's likely next govt wants to fix ties with India

Here's how🧵 Today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation after a decade in power

There's one country that will likely welcome his resignation

That country is India

His fall from power could offer a fresh start to India and Canada

India secretly influenced a major foreign election says a new report

India tried to help a pro-India leader become President of the Maldives

RAW spies also discussed a plan to remove the country's leader

🧵on this new Washington Post report The Washington Post has a new report

It argues India mounted an effort to influence the 2023 Maldivian Presidential election

India intervened to help pro-🇮🇳 President Ibrahim Solih stay in power

When that failed, RAW spies discussed a plan to remove Prez Mohamed Muizzu

Manmohan Singh won one massive victory as PM

He fought his party, defeated the Left and outplayed China

Singh called it his biggest achievement as Prime Minister

🧵on this victory The India-US nuclear deal was Manmohan Singh's finest achievement as Prime Minister

The deal changed India's relationship with America

And it also ended years of Indian isolation on the world stage

For 3 years, Singh fought to get the deal done

This is that story

India ended Western colonialism on this day

India defeated Portugal and took over Goa exactly 63 years ago

BUT, India was called an aggressor by Western powers

🧵 Portugal first conquered Goa in 1510, when its Empire was at the height of its power

But it was challenged by Britain, which began to expand its power in India in the 18th century

Eventually, Portugal was only left with Goa, Daman and Diu & Dadra and Nagar Haveli

India won the 1971 war but lost a bigger prize

India had the chance to force Pakistan to settle Kashmir forever

BUT, India failed to do that

🧵on this controversial argument Our story begins in December 1971 when the third India-Pakistan war broke out after months of escalating tensions

After a two-week conflict, India's army and resistance won forces a decisive victory

Pakistan's military surrendered and Bangladesh became an independent nation

India has a strange partnership with a brutal dictator

Syria's Bashar al-Assad was an Indian partner for years

His fall from power could be worrying for India

Here's why🧵 Syria's Bashar al-Assad is one of the world's most hated dictators

For the last 13 years, Syria has been torn apart by a brutal civil war

Assad has been isolated by many global powers for his actions

His govt has fallen apart

But India has continued to work with Assad

The world's most hated politician was Indian

He saved Kashmir but lost India a war

The West hated him so much that they used spies to destroy him

🧵on "Nehru's evil genius" That man was VK Krishna Menon

Menon was India's Defence Minister and one of its top diplomats for over a decade after Independence

Many blame him for India's defeat in the 1962 war with China

But his supporters believe he was India's most effective voice on the world stage