New Delhi: Hectic deliberations are currently on within the government on whether the post of national security adviser in the new dispensation should be more foreign policy-oriented or to focus entirely on intelligence and internal security mechanisms.
Highly placed government sources said the decision of not taking the internal security division out of the MHA’s purview and placing it directly under the PMO has changed the dynamics according to which the new NSA would function. This appears to be the reason for the delay in the announcement of the new NSA, sources added.
It was anticipated that internal security would be delinked from the MHA and headed by a minister of state who, in turn, would report directly to the PM.
But with Rajnath Singh taking over as home minister, the possibility of the NSA’s office overshadowing the MHA seems remote. “Now that there is strong leadership in the MHA, one needs to see what kind of role the new NSA assumes,” a top government functionary said.
