ABSTRACT
Cooperation among the intelligence agencies of the Allied powers contributed considerably to their victory in the Second World War. After the war, international communism and externally-supported Communist insurgencies came to be perceived as both subversive and as a threat to national security by many countries. The intelligence agencies of Western democracies and of the so-called non-aligned world joined forces to meet this threat. The United Kingdom took the lead in this direction and persuaded the other members of the Commonwealth to constitute, under its leadership, a Security Liaison Network (SLN) to strengthen their counterinsurgency capability. After Independence, India, under the thenPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, joined the SLN without reservation. The SLN members shared intelligence, insights, assessments, and expertise. This was done through the Security Liaison Officers (SLOs) posted in each country’s diplomatic mission under the cover of diplomats. The SLOs came from the intelligence agencies or the police.
