The Pakistani adventure in Kargil has shocked the nation though the ceaseless activities of its ISI in India should have brought home the point that nothing better could be expected. There has been a storm of allegations against the Government and Intelligence agencies. While the attack on Government falls within a routine pattern of the opposition parties and media, it becomes necessary to examine whether the failures are of intelligence or of a larger milieu that operates in the country.
Intelligence has to be differentiated from national security management.
The basic function of intelligence is procurement of information. Intelligence cannot really be faulted for not procuring what essentially lies in the area of unknowability. How intelligence products will be used is not for the intelligence agencies to determine. A complex process comes into play at this stage which involves assessments, scrutiny of assessments, policy formulations and policy directions. The concept of national security management exists only in an embryonic form in our country.