New Zealand's secret service broke into the Indian embassy to steal diplomatic codes for Britain. NZ only did what its mommy ordered. @MEAIndia leaving the embassy unguarded was due to its chalta hai attitude. Thread on how untrained Indian diplomats are: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/420210/nz-broke-into-embassies-for-cia-and-mi6

1. In 2015 I was approached by an Indian diplomat who wanted too reveal how the American NSA and CIA tried to plant spies and listening devices in the house of an Indian diplomat. They did not contact me directly. The meeting was arranged by a mutual friend.

2. I told the friend to tell them to meet me at a restaurant in New Delhi's Khan Market. Since the NSA was involved, utmost secrecy was required. At the same time, I assumed the NSA already knew he was talking to the media to expose the NSA-CIA role in spying on Indian diplomats.

3. Also, being a defence analyst working for the Russian state media, which was directly controlled by the Kremlin, I had reason to be overcautious. I was highly anti-American those days. This was the Pre-Trump era and before the India-US strategic partnership solidified.

4. The Indian diplomat agreed. I also said both the diplomat and the intermediary must remove the battery from their mobile phones before they started driving towards Khan Market.

5. Mobile phones continue to listen on you even if you switch them off. So you must either remove the battery or keep the phone far from you. I said, this was compulsory. I said, I would do the same before I started from home.

6. When I reached the restaurant, I saw that the diplomat and the friend had not only not removed their phones but were actually using them. I mean, can you imagine, after all that talk about taking precautions, they just threw all caution to the wind.

7. I asked the waiter for a paper bag and said to the diplomat and my friend, "Please remove the batteries of your phones and place them in this bag." After that I said, "Let's go someplace else." They got up and we moved to a different restaurant a few door away.

8. I and my friend met again that evening and he said, "The diplomat was very impressed with how you took steps to ensure we weren't spied upon." I replied, "My real concern is why doesn't an Indian diplomat have a freaking clue how to be discreet....

9. ".... Shouldn't this be part of their training? How does the MEA allow its diplomats to operate without them having the least bit of knowledge about spycraft tools and methods?" To paraphrase a KGB general. that's why India leaks like a sieve.
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