NEW DELHI: India’s strategic and intelligence discourse has undergone a visible transformation over the past decade. Activities once confined to classified files and closed-door briefings are increasingly reflected in literature, cinema, and public debate. In that context, journalist and filmmaker Anirudhya Mitra’s spy-fiction novel The Delhi Directive: Once You’re Marked, There’s No Escape has drawn attention for dramatising themes that closely parallel contemporary geopolitical challenges.
The discussion has intensified following developments in the United States. In a federal court in New York, Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty to charges linked to an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen and Khalistan supporter. According to the United States Department of Justice, Gupta admitted involvement in conspiracy and money laundering charges tied to the case. Court documents allege he attempted to arrange payment to a purported hitman, who was in fact an undercover U.S. agent. Prosecutors have claimed the plan was directed by an Indian government employee — an assertion recorded in court filings. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2026.
The case is significant because it marks the first instance in which an accused individual has admitted participation in such a conspiracy before a U.S. court. However, any determination regarding official state involvement remains subject to judicial scrutiny and evidentiary standards. The Government of India has consistently denied allegations that it authorised or attempted any such operation in the United States or Canada.
In contrast, the case surrounding the killing of Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada remains diplomatically sensitive and legally unresolved. In 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that his government possessed credible allegations linking Indian agents to the incident. India categorically rejected the claim as baseless and has maintained that Canada has not shared actionable evidence. New Delhi has countered by asserting that anti-India extremist elements have found safe haven in Canada. In recent months, amid shifting political dynamics in Ottawa, discussions involving External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval have reportedly included assurances of cooperation on counterterror concerns.
Whereas legal proceedings in the United States have produced admissions in court, the Canadian case remains under investigation and embedded in diplomatic exchanges. This divergence highlights the gap between verifiable judicial processes and political assertions — and underscores how fiction and reality intersect in public imagination.
It is within this atmosphere that The Delhi Directive gains relevance. The novel presents a complete operational narrative: who authorises the mission, how it is executed, and the moral and geopolitical dilemmas confronting operatives on foreign soil. The protagonist undertakes a cross-border mission framed around national security imperatives. The underlying question is whether such storytelling merely reflects imagination — or serves as a literary echo of an evolving strategic doctrine in which India signals readiness to confront terrorism beyond its territorial boundaries.
Mitra previously authored 90 Days, a detailed investigative account of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, which later inspired an OTT series. He also chronicled policing and anti-mafia operations in The Enforcers, based on the experiences of former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prashant Kumar. His latest work ventures into fictionalized intelligence operations, drawing thematic parallels with India’s evolving security posture under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, with strategic coordination often associated with Ajit Doval.
The debate also intersects with issues of official secrecy. Reports surrounding former Army Chief M.M. Naravane’s unpublished memoir revived discussion about the Official Secrets Act, which prohibits unauthorized disclosure of sensitive military or intelligence operations, carrying penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment upon conviction.
Cinema has amplified this narrative shift. Recent spy thrillers portraying cross-border intelligence penetration and covert disruption of terrorist networks have resonated with audiences, reinforcing a perception that India’s counterterror doctrine is more assertive than in previous decades.
Historically, intelligence agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the KGB, and MI5 saw many of their covert actions acknowledged only years later through declassified documents, parliamentary inquiries, or memoirs. Public confirmation often arrived after geo-political contexts had shifted and operations had become historical artifacts.
India long adhered to what was termed “strategic restraint.” Yet over the past decade, the security discourse has increasingly suggested that if threats originate beyond borders, responses may not remain territorially confined. Such debates are not new in international relations — countries like the United States, Russia, and Israel have long grappled with the legal and diplomatic implications of extraterritorial counterterror operations. What is notable is that India now features prominently within that global conversation.
Former intelligence chiefs such as Vikram Sood and A. S. Dulat have written memoirs emphasising institutional processes and policy considerations rather than operational specifics, often maintaining deliberate restraint. Contemporary spy fiction, by contrast, supplies the immediacy and narrative closure that real-world statecraft cannot publicly provide.
Whether India’s strategic language has fundamentally shifted will ultimately be determined by historical records and declassified documentation. What is clear, however, is that the distance between espionage fiction and geopolitical reality has narrowed — and public discourse increasingly inhabits the space between them.
