Canadian Sikh activist's murder has put a spotlight on India's little-known intelligence agency

In the two weeks since the prime minister rose in Parliament to speak of "credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," demands for more information and evidence have grown. 

Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was fatally shot on June 18 outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. He was a leader in the Sikh diaspora and activist calling for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan.

On Sept. 25, The Washington Post reported on a 90-second video which suggested the killing was a coordinated attack, involving at least three people and at least two vehicles. 

The accusations and speculation have put the spotlight on India's foreign intelligence agency — the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) — a spy agency many Canadians have probably never heard of.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said she had ordered "a senior Indian diplomat," the head of RAW in Canada, to leave the country.

Until now, the spy agency was believed to operate primarily in South Asia. 

But some experts suggest, given the history of RAW and how it has shifted priorities through the years, it's not inconceivable that it was involved. 

Watch Adrienne Arsenault's report on India's Research and Analysis Wing Monday night on The National, at 10 p.m. on CBC TV, and on CBC Gem

"If Trudeau's allegations are true," said Yogesh Joshi, a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore, "it would not — it should not — be that surprising."  

Here's why observers are asking if RAW has changed tactics.

India's Research and Analysis Wing was created in 1968 by Indira Gandhi's administration. Until then, intelligence, both domestic and foreign, had been handled by the IB — the Intelligence Bureau. 

But following India's defeat in its 1962 border war with China, it was decided a full-fledged foreign intelligence-focused operation was needed. While initially focused on China, it quickly expanded to focus primarily on India's other main rival, Pakistan. 

According to the Council on Foreign Affairs, the agency's mandate and powers have varied over the years, depending on the prime minister in power at the time, and not a lot is known about RAW's internal structure, budget or operations.

The CFA cites a 2007 book by a former RAW official, B. Ramen, in which he describes RAW's initial priorities as strengthening its capability for intelligence gathering on Pakistan and China and for covert action in Bangladesh.