Discretion is the byword at the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), the country’s main foreign intelligence agency, but for the first time it will pay homage to its founder by holding the first R N Kao Memorial Lecture in the high-security precincts of its headquarters and has also invited a select group of mediapersons for the event.

The theme for tomorrow’s lecture is “India and Global Security: leveraging soft power,” and it will be delivered by UN’s Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor.

Former RAW Secretary Girish Saxena, who had worked closely with R N Kao and the outgoing RAW Secretary, P K H Tharakan will also speak on the occasion.

The lecture is expected to be an annual affair and for the inaugural, the who’s who of the intelligence community will be in attendance at the RAW auditorium adjoining its headquarters.

Besides a host of retired RAW officers, around 50 of whom are flying into Delhi tomorrow, several ex-RAW Secretaries will be present. They include C D Sahay, A K Verma, A S Dulat and Vikram Sood. Several of the out-station retired sleuths are being put up at State Bhawans and have also been invited to an informal tea by Tharakan on Sunday.

The lecture is being held at a time when the agency is going through a critical phase in its 39-year-old history. A series of spy scandals have led key officials in the Government, including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan to admit that an overhaul of the agency is needed. Also, the memorial lecture is being organised days before Tharakan demits office on January 31.