Apathetic National Security

On March 13, 2026, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested US national Mathew Aaron VanDyke along with six Ukrainian citizens. The arrests were carried out across three airports — Kolkata, where VanDyke was apprehended, Lucknow and Delhi, where three Ukrainian nationals were arrested at each location. This group of seven were arrested for entering restricted areas in Mizoram, crossing into Myanmar to train ethnic armed groups (EAGs) and supply weapons (including drones) in a suspected cross-border terror network. These EAGs are also linked to insurgent organisations in India’s Northeast.

Matthew Aaron VanDyke is an international mercenary, founder of Sons of Liberty International (SOLI), who joined rebels in the 2011 Libyan Civil War, reportedly fought ISIS in Iraq and the uprisings in Syria, and joined Ukrainian forces against the Russian invasion commencing in 2022. Fighting against ISIS in Iraq is a lame explanation - he would have assisted ISIS instead because ISIS was trained and armed in Turkey under CIA and MI-6 supervision to control Iraqi oil and topple the government in Syria. 

Multiple intelligence reports subsequently emerged indicating that Matthew VanDyke was on the ground in Dhaka and was personally involved in the protests aimed at toppling Sheikh Hasina government Bangladesh. Moreover, he was present in a Bangladesh Army helicopter used to extract his trained snipers. Some of the snipers were seen wearing T-shirts marked with US insignia as they boarded the helicopter. Speculation is that this was because of elements within the Bangladesh Army in league with Pakistan’s ISI.

It is also known that the coup in Bangladesh to topple the Sheikh Hasina government was orchestrated by the CIA and Pakistan’s ISI. Deployment of Western mercenaries in Ukraine to combat Russian forces is also coordinated by the CIA. With the CIA controlling the digital media and NGO’s in Nepal, hashtags like #PoliticiansNepoBabyNepal, #NepoKids, and #NepoBaby on social media inciting the revolt, as well as anti-India toolkit with hashtags like #BackoffIndia and #GoBackIndia helped orchestrate the Gen Z revolt in Nepal, providing them with a strategy and training. Did that include snipers?

The anti-junta operations if Myanmar are supported by both the CIA and the ISI, with financial assistance also coming from Saudi Arabia for organizations like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) headed by Pakistan-born Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi (also known as Hafiz Tohar). In March 2025, the Interim Government of Bangladesh took Ataullah into custody, which was more to coordinate anti-India activities since ARSA was behind mass Hindu killings in Myanmar.

Little wonder why Sergio Gor, US ambassador to India, is trying his level best to get Matthew VanDyke released, which he may even succeed given the current state of India-US relations and India supporting the US-Israel war on Iran. Ukraine is also protesting against the arrest of six Ukrainians. Had it been another country instead of India, these seven foreigners would have probably been quietly done away with.

These seven foreigners were on tourist visas. Does India have procedures for background check of a notorious mercenary like Mathew Aaron VanDyke? Look at the checks the US has instituted now at all entry points. Which contacts in India helped these foreigners? Presence of American mercenaries in Myanmar has been reported since the takeover by the military junta. Their successful movement of a large consignment of drones and related supplies through Mizoram suggests that external provisioning of arms to insurgent groups may be occurring periodically Has India’s northeast become conducive to foreign actors fuelling the Myanmar conflict. And what’s more important – are our intelligence agencies compromised?

In another incident two US tourists were booked by the Kochi Police for flying a drone over sensitive military installations in Kochi, which serves as a pivotal hub for India's maritime defence, housing key assets of both the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, including operational bases and strategic command centres, according to news reports of March 23, 2026. The case was registered under the Aircraft Act, 1934, and Drone Rules, 2021, with investigations probing whether the flight was inadvertent tourism or something more calculated. We must be utterly foolish to think such actions are not pre-planned intelligence gathering operations – and part of an overall plan; according to official records quoted in the media, over 200 incidents of drone sightings were reported in 2025 alone over defence zones across India, from naval bases in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam to airbases in the north.

Legal repercussions for these two US tourists include potential fines up to INR 1 lakh (a pittance for intelligence operations), equipment confiscation, and blacklisting from future drone operations in India. Why should foreign tourists be allowed to operate drones here in the first place? Have we learnt nothing from the Pakistani - American David Coleman Headley (born Dawood Sayed Gilani) taking photographs and performing surveillance in Mumbai to assist the 26/11 terrorist attacks, that we are now allowing foreigners to fly drones? And if we are to keep on allowing it as this is a standard practice in nearly all countries for low-level drones, then for obvious and sensitive transgressions (depending on area and type of drone and equipment) shouldn’t we introduce penalties which are more than a slap on the wrist? The sad truth is that a single YouTube video by an average channel will pay through monetization in multiples of the current fine. In other words, we are not prepared even for the general public to start abusing the system in search of online fame and additional income, let alone deter rogue foreign agents with unlimited budgets.

National security is more of a joke in India, with the country having become an open asymmetric battlefield, not because of the above two examples alone. The government hasn’t yet evolved a national security strategy despite the NSA officially tasked to do so, because it helps avoid accountability in adverse situations. In April 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said an electronic surveillance system would be “first” installed along the Indo-Pak border in the next 3-4 years, and then on the India-Bangladesh border (https://www.spsmai.com/experts-speak/?id=1671&q=Border-Vigilance-and-Security). Why can’t we address the Indo-Bangladesh border simultaneously? Why should the Indo-Pak border take 3-4 years in the first place?

Border security in India is tied to elections. A shocking video of an Indian youth crossing into Bangladesh territory in broad daylight with no one checking him was recently aired by Times Now (https://www.facebook.com/reel/2333179893769298). Obviously, illegal immigration and smuggling, including cattle-smuggling, is continuing and money is changing hands. Jibu B Mathews, commandant 83 Battalion BSF (resident of Pathanamthitta District of Kerala) was arrested by the CBI unit of Kochi travelling in Shalimar Express. He was carrying INR 76 lakhs when nabbed, and CBI recovered INR 96 crore from his house later (https://www.facebook.com/reel/2450483155382507). He was posted   at the India-Bangladesh border at the time of his arrest.

Now Amit Shah is going around saying infiltration from Bangladesh can only be stopped if the present government in West Bengal is unseated – this despite the fact that the Border Security Force (BSF) responsible for the India-Bangladesh border is directly under him. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently chaired a conference to review the developments in West Asia and spoke about the need to review security, including digital security. This, while India has allowed Starlink cover to please the US, while Starlink was already covering Bangladesh. In addition, India has permitted Chinese investments in every sector in India.

Finally, these are issues that the Union Government and the NSA need to seriously examine and act upon. India did little to crush the coups in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Mathew Aaron VanDyke and the six Ukrainians are obviously part of America’s deep state which has no love lost for India; they deserve no concessions. Let us place our national security first. 

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.