What was it like to rescue Indian hostages from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan almost 20 years ago? Retired R&AW officer Anand Arni takes us behind the scenes of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC814 in 1999.

Anand Arni joins Pranay Kotasthane and host Pavan Srinath on Episode 70 of The Pragati Podcast. Mr Arni is a Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at the Takshashila Institution, and retired as the Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. He served for over 37 years in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. He was a part of the hostage rescue team during the Flight IC814 hijacking crisis.

In this episode, Anand Arni recounts his journey of being sent to Kandahar along with Ajit Doval, Vivek Katju, CD Sahay and Nehchal Sandhu. He shares absurd and hilarious things that happened, even as hostages were successfully rescued.

Have any questions or comments? Write in to podcast@thinkpragati.com. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at takshashila.org.in/education. Several courses are starting in January 2019.

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What was it like to rescue Indian hostages from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan almost 20 years ago? Retired R&AW officer Anand Arni takes us behind the scenes of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC814 in 1999. <a href="http://takshashila.org.in/team/anand-arni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anand Arni</a> joins <a href="https://twitter.com/pranaykotas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pranay Kotasthane</a> and host Pavan Srinath on Episode 70 of The Pragati Podcast. Mr Arni is a Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at the Takshashila Institution, and retired as the Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. He served for over 37 years in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. He was a part of the hostage rescue team during the Flight IC814 hijacking crisis. In this episode, Anand Arni recounts his journey of being sent to Kandahar along with Ajit Doval, Vivek Katju, CD Sahay and Nehchal Sandhu. He shares absurd and hilarious things that happened, even as hostages were successfully rescued. Have any questions or comments? Write in to <a href="mailto:podcast@thinkpragati.com">podcast@thinkpragati.com</a>. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at <a href="http://takshashila.org.in/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">takshashila.org.in/education</a>. Several courses are starting in January 2019. Follow Pragati on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/thinkpragati" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/thinkpragati</a> Follow Pragati on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/</a>

Take a step back from noisy political debates and tune in to rich conversations on India and the world. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations. Science-geek-turned-policy-wonk Pavan Srinath talks to scholars and experts on everything from India's unique genetics to why China isn't really trying to take over the world. New episodes out every Thursday. The Pragati Podcast is the titular podcast of the online magazine Pragati, and has a lot more brain fodder at www.thinkpragati.com.

Take a step back from noisy political debates and tune in to rich conversations on India and the world. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations. Science-geek-turned-policy-wonk Pavan Srinath talks to scholars and experts on everything from India's unique genetics to why China isn't really trying to take over the world. New episodes out every Thursday. The Pragati Podcast is the titular podcast of the online magazine Pragati, and has a lot more brain fodder at www.thinkpragati.com.

Take a step back from noisy political debates and tune in to rich conversations on India and the world. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations. Science-geek-turned-policy-wonk Pavan Srinath

The Pragati Podcast

What was it like to rescue Indian hostages from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan almost 20 years ago? Retired R&AW officer Anand Arni takes us behind the scenes of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC814 in 1999.  joins  and host Pavan...

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