The spy business doesn't ever come in for public debate. There is no parliamentary scrutiny or CAG audit. You only catch snatches of whispers from which you piece together a hazy contour of their ops. India has half-a dozen intelligence agencies: prominent among them are the IB, formed in 1947 for internal security; the RAW, in-charge of external intelligence; and MI, to coordinate defence intelligence. All these agencies report to the IIC, the apex intelligence assessment body.
In India, "external intelligence" is the mandate of the Research and Analysis Wing, whose men are posted in all neighbouring countries, in some Western countries where extremist Indian ethnic groups operate, and other countries that serve as watchtowers to Pakistan. Their job is to keep track of political developments, activities of anti-India groups and Pakistani actions.
A RAW man is usually posted on an Indian mission as a consular officer in the rank of First Secretary. His PA and non-consular staff are also intelligence men. The RAW man's usual 'official' job is to handle visas, the reason being that this provides the maximum opportunity to make contact with locals. Besides, visas and passports come under the Home Minister, so it is easier to post a non-IFS man there. The RAW has lobbied for its man to be posted as commercial counsellors, as this puts them in a better position to 'oblige' contacts. But the IFS-IAS lobby has zealously guarded its preserve.
The RAW man's identity rarely remains a secret. Within the mission, the closely-knit Indian Foreign Service brotherhood is quick to identify him as an outsider, a suspicion confirmed when he says he is from the Home Ministry. Outside the mission, he is an obvious outsider on the diplomatic circuit, possessing neither the experience of the diplomats nor their suavity.