NSA’s role to be recast

The expected exit of powerful security czar MK Narayanan from the prime minister’s office (PMO) signals the start of a restructuring process that will bifurcate the empire outgoing national security advisor (NSA) had built for himself.

The government has decided to recast the NSA’s role. The new incumbent will concentrate on global and strategic issues, including nuclear security, a vital part of external policy.

This is why the government shortlisted former foreign service officers for the post. Shiv Shankar Menon, who recently retired as foreign secretary, is believed to be the frontrunner.

With Narayanan gone, internal security will become home minister P Chidambaram’s exclusive domain. Although Narayanan lost considerable clout with Chidambaram’s appointment as home minister after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, tension kept surfacing between the two.        

Chidambaram finally went public with his displeasure by floating a suggestion for the creation of an internal security ministry that would bring all security organisations, including intelligence services, under one umbrella. It was his way of demarcating his turf. Narayanan’s exit indicates that Chidambaram’s views have gained traction with the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi.

While the NSA’s post, created by the Vajpayee government, was conceived to give diplomatic and strategic muscle to the PMO, Narayanan had broadened his canvass to include internal security because of Shivraj Patil’s ineffective tenure as home minister in UPA 1.

Being a former Intelligence Bureau chief, Narayanan’s area of expertise was internal security, not strategic affairs, and this is what he preferred to concentrate on.

Over the years, he emerged as an unchallenged power-centre in the PMO, using his perceived proximity to Sonia to wield enormous clout with the prime minister. It was said that not a leaf stirred in the PMO without Narayanan’s nod.

Unfortunately, it also meant that long-term strategic planning for India’s external security challenges suffered. The National Security Council, which comes under the NSA and is supposed to prepare vision documents on strategic issues, virtually became defunct.

The government often found itself without inputs for policymaking on myriad problems such as a neighbourhood in turmoil or Chinese checkers on our borders.

With a retired diplomat as NSA, the PMO will be able to sharpen its focus on global issues and bring much-needed depth to policymaking.

Apart from infusing fresh life into the NSC, the incoming NSA will have to look closely at the nuclear command and control structure. This needs constant monitoring and refining to maintain India’s nuclear deterrence.