The Special Frontier Force (SFF) is an Indian special operations unit created on 14 November 1962. It mainly comprised Tibetan refugees living in India. Now it has increased in size and scope of operations. Its primary goal originally was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in the event of another Sino-Indian War.
Throughout its history, SFF has fought in India's major external wars including the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Kargil War. It has also been involved in internal security, including Operation Blue Star and also serving as the "Personal Force" of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to suppress opposition parties during the state of emergency from 1975 to 1977. It has been part of border operations against China, including the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes.
Based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, the force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and later the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency, and is not part of the Indian Army but functions under their operational control with its own rank structure, charter and training infrastructure. It falls under the authority of the Directorate General on Security in the Cabinet Secretariat headed by an Inspector General (SFF) who is selected from the Major General rank of the Indian Army and who reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office.
History
British India precursor
Tibetans have been a part of the modern Indian Army for as long as it has existed. During the time of the Great Game, the British Indian Army began to employ Tibetans as spies, intelligence agents, and even covert militia in northern India and Tibet proper.
1950s training with IB and CIA
At the time of Indian independence, the northern mountain-covered region of India remained the most isolated and strategically overlooked territory of the subcontinent. During the 1950s, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) established Mustang Base in Mustang in Nepal, which trained Tibetans in guerilla warfare. The Mustang rebels brought the 14th Dalai Lama to India during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion. Former CIA officer John Kennet Knaus who worked in Tibet credited IB Chief Bhola Nath Mullik for SFF formation. According to A Tom Grunfeld, Professor of History at State University of New York, 12,000 Tibetans were trained by United States Army Special Forces and partly funded by Federal government of the United States. Although neither US nor Central Tibetan Administration has any influence on SFF.
Formation
The idea of raising a specialized force consisting of Tibetan refugees and Tibetan resistance fighters in India against the Chinese was first mooted by General K S Thimayya when he was leading the Indian Army between May 1957 and May 1961. During the Sino-Indian War and towards the end of 1962, after hectic lobbying by the IB Chief Bhola Nath Mullik and World War II veteran Biju Patnaik, the Jawaharlal Nehru government finally ordered the raising of an elite commando unit and specialised mountain division.
The primary task of SFF is defence against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force as well as conducting clandestine intelligence gathering and commando operations along the Chinese border. Chushi Gangdruk leaders were contacted for recruitment of Khampas into this new unit. The initial strength was 5000 men, mostly Khampas who were recruited at its new Mountain Training Facility at Chakrata, 100 km from the city of Dehradun.
Initially known as Establishment 22 within the military and intelligence community due to its first Inspector General, Maj. Gen. Sujan Singh Uban, who commanded the 22nd Mountain Regiment of the Royal Indian Artillery during World War II. Uban also went on to command a Long Range Desert Group Squadron (LRDS) in North Africa during the war. The SFF made its home base at Chakrata, a mountain town in the foothills of the Himalayas home to a large Tibetan refugee population. Starting with a force of 5,000 men, the SFF commenced six months of training in rock climbing and guerrilla warfare. Initial training was conducted by the Intelligence Bureau Special Operations Unit. Both R&AW and the CIA helped in raising the force.