RAW Recruited Ahmad Shah Massoud — "The Lion of Panjshir"

 

What the book based on RAW spies revealed:

This is a story confirmed by RAW's own former operatives, while the CIA was busy arming Massoud's rivals through Pakistan.

RAW had recruited three powerful warlords, including Ahmad Shah Massoud, in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and the US-Pakistan proxy war. The book 'RAW: A History of India's Covert Operations' by journalist Yatish Yadav did not disclose the identity of the two other warlords, as they still occupy positions in Afghanistan politics. Dailyhunt

The CIA's partnership with ISI was "a serious concern" for India, and RAW needed allies to counter the unlikely partnership of the mujahideen and the Pakistani spy agency. deccanherald

So while the CIA was funding the mujahideen through Pakistan — who then turned those weapons on India — RAW was quietly cultivating the very commanders the CIA underestimated. Massoud later became the only major Afghan warlord who never turned against India. Coincidence? Hardly.