- Ajit Doval's early mission involved countering US influence in Sikkim during the 1970s
- Hope Cook, American queen of Sikkim, was suspected of CIA links and pro-US influence
- Sikkim was a protectorate with India controlling defence and foreign affairs post-1947
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's life has always read like a spy novel. One of his earliest and least-known missions played out not in Pakistan or China, but in the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim.
In the early 1970s, the Sikkim monarchy faced a crisis. The queen, an American named Hope Cook, was increasingly seen in Delhi as a "spy queen" with alleged links to the CIA. She was seen as someone whose influence aligned too closely with Washington at a time when India's own ties with the US were strained.
India feared losing influence in a state that served as a buffer against China. Enter a young intelligence officer whose task was to ensure Sikkim stayed in India's orbit.
The state had been ruled by the Chogyal dynasty since 1642. After India's independence in 1947, it became a protectorate, meaning Delhi handled defence and foreign affairs, while the Chogyal managed internal matters. This arrangement began to shift after 1965, when Palden Thondup Namgyal became Chogyal following his father's death.
Mr Thondup had studied in India and was seen as pragmatic. Two years earlier, he had met Hope Cook, who left her US citizenship to marry him. By the mid-1960s, she was queen.
Soon, her fingerprints were visible in policy matters.
Hope Cook cultivated foreign journalists, gave interviews that portrayed Sikkim as a nation resisting Indian pressure, and encouraged her husband to claim independence. Author Devdutt D, in his book Ajit Doval: On a Mission, recounts how intelligence officials in Delhi suspected her of serving as a conduit for Washington's influence.
Her presence became more controversial during the 1971 Bangladesh war, when Washington openly supported Pakistan. For Delhi, this was more than palace gossip. A buffer state in the Himalayas with growing US influence was a nightmare, especially with China already looming to the north.
It was here that Ajit Doval entered the picture, entrusted with assessing Sikkim's mood and countering the queen's influence.
He embedded himself among locals, spoke to political leaders, gauged public anger against the monarchy, and strengthened Delhi's contacts.
Mr Doval's reports revealed that the Sikkimese people, especially the majority Nepali population, were increasingly resentful of the Chogyal and his American queen. They viewed the palace as aloof, elitist, and anti-India. Delhi now had confirmation that integration with India would be strategic as well as broadly welcomed by the populace.
By 1973, protests erupted in Sikkim. Demonstrators marched against the monarchy, demanding democracy. Under mounting pressure, Hope Cook eventually left Sikkim for New York, never to return.
Two years later, in 1975, the Sikkim Assembly voted overwhelmingly to abolish the monarchy and merge with India. A referendum confirmed that over 97 per cent supported integration. Delhi moved swiftly, and Sikkim became India's 22nd state.
