Narayan's job as NSA 'temporary'

NSA has No role in Sino-Indian talks

That "temporary" National Security Adviser (NSA) MK Narayan is not handling the first Sino-Indian strategic dialogue that begins here tomorrow and that the dialogue has reverted to the foreign secretary representing the Indian side, suggests that the "temporary" nature of Narayan's job will remain.

Top government sources said Prime Minister Mammohan Singh had, in the wake of JN Dixit's death, held consultations with a large number of security experts including former Defence Secretary K Subrahmanyam, Jasjit Singh, Governor SK Singh and former Ambassador to Pakistan SK Lambah.

He had even held consultations with Brajesh Mishra, principal secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in an attempt to clarify in his own mind, what kind of the NSA the country needs.

The strategic dialogue with China that starts tomorrow, for instance, is a classic NSA task, involving not just a strategic appreciation of Sino-Indian relations but also the way they ought to develop. Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will lead the Chinese side.

But with Dixit's death, there is a sense in the government that may be the NSA's tasks should be limited to being adviser to the national security council, which was what his original mandate was, instead of becoming a freewheeling adviser to the Prime Minister on foreign policy.

Government sources say the Prime Minister by and large is impatient with getting bogged down in foreign policy issues that are largely mired in protocol. He would much rather be in involved in other issues that need his attention like infrastructure development.

In the last one week, the Prime Minister has had to devote a large chunks of his time to foreign visitors, including the Prime Minister of Iceland, a nation for which India has only notional value.

Sources argue that many of these engagements are unavoidable. They also say that the Prime Minister does need a senior foreign policy adviser in the Prime Minister's Office. However, equally, the Prime Minister does not deserve to become "an arbiter in battles between the external affairs ministry and the national security adviser," sources say.

There is no clarity either on the reported appointment of the interlocutors for Pakistan, China and the dual technology issues with the US, all jobs that Dixit was doing as the NSA. All these suggestions are either loud thinking or "floaters to scuttle somebody's chances," sources say.

The expectation is that with the Prime Minister's commitment to institutions, the new NSA""or a similar post"" will be created only if there is institutional space for one. The indications are that the some rightsizing regarding the role of the NSA is on the cards.

But the creation of the office of the NSA has structural handicaps. Dixit for instance, was not only adviser to the NSC and the nuclear chain of command, but also acted as a parallel principal secretary to the Prime Minister when it came to matters concerning appointments to be made in the departments of defence, space and atomic energy. This created friction at various levels.