NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — The Indian government has ordered the historic Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its premises by June 5, citing national security, defense infrastructure, and urgent public interest. The move has renewed interest in the elite club’s lesser-known Cold War past, when former CIA operatives allegedly used the venue as a covert intelligence hub in the heart of New Delhi reports India Today.
Located on 27 acres near the prime minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, the 113-year-old Delhi Gymkhana Club has long served as a gathering place for diplomats, military officers,s and India’s political elite. But according to former CIA officer Robert Baer, the club also played a key role in American intelligence operations during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Baer detailed the operation in his 2002 memoir “See No Evil,” which described how CIA agents working under diplomatic cover used the club to meet Indian officials away from formal scrutiny. Indian government rules at the time barred officials from meeting foreign nationals without approval. The Gymkhana Club provided a discreet setting where those meetings could happen informally over drinks, dinners, and social events. The club’s layout also helped intelligence officers evade surveillance. Baer wrote that India’s Intelligence Bureau closely monitored foreign diplomats suspected of espionage. However, the Gymkhana’s sprawling lawns, multiple bars, and crowded social spaces allowed operatives to slip away from surveillance teams.
The most significant operation described in Baer’s memoir involved the Soviet-made T-72 tank, which India began importing from the Soviet Union in 1978. At the height of the Cold War, the Pentagon and the CIA aggressively sought information on advanced Soviet military hardware. The T-72 drew special attention because of its powerful 125 mm smoothbore gun, advanced armor, and automated loading system. Western intelligence agencies wanted to understand the tank’s strengths and weaknesses in case of a future conflict with the Soviet Union and its allies.
Baer claimed the CIA station in New Delhi worked aggressively to gather information on India’s T-72 fleet. The agency allegedly explored multiple options, including persuading an Indian military contact to defect with a tank and bribing depot officials to obtain armor samples. Those efforts reportedly failed. Then, according to Baer, one of his Indian contacts delivered a duffel bag filled with classified T-72 manuals in late 1978. The documents reportedly came from an Indian Army sergeant who needed them returned within hours.
Baer described a tense operation in which Intelligence Bureau officers followed him across New Delhi. To avoid surveillance, he drove into the Gymkhana Club grounds, transferred the manuals into a tennis bag, and handed them off near one of the club’s guest houses before entering the club’s bar. Inside the nearly empty bar, Baer sat beside an unsuspecting Indian gentleman and ordered drinks while Intelligence Bureau officers watched from the entrance. The diversion allowed the courier carrying the manuals to leave unnoticed.
The information reportedly helped the CIA analyze the T-72’s capabilities. A 1982 CIA assessment of the export version of the tank highlighted strengths in its fire-control systems but identified a weak night-fighting capability as a major flaw. Military analysts believe such intelligence would have benefited American defense manufacturers and U.S. allies, including Pakistan, which maintained close defense ties with Washington during the Cold War.
Baer later became one of the CIA’s best-known field officers after serving in the Middle East. His memoir gained international attention after the Sept. 11 attacks and later inspired the 2005 film “Syriana,” starring George Clooney. The revelations in “See No Evil” received little attention in India when the book was released in 2002. However, the Gymkhana Club’s eviction has revived public interest in the club’s espionage history and broader questions about foreign intelligence activity in India during the Cold War.
The CIA’s operations in India reportedly continued long after the Soviet era ended. Several Indian intelligence officials later faced allegations of links with American intelligence agencies, including cases involving India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing, and the Intelligence Bureau. The government has not publicly linked the current eviction notice to the club’s Cold War history. Officials have only cited security and infrastructure concerns.
Still, the Delhi Gymkhana Club remains one of the most unusual locations connected to Cold War espionage in South Asia — a place where military secrets allegedly changed hands over Scotch and conversation.
