PMO awaits a few more final touches

While Narayanan’s predecessors were responsible for nuclear command and control, the Intelligence Coordination Group and interlocution with Pakistan, China and France, the PMO is mulling over whether strategic controls should remain with Narayanan or be given to a nuclear expert like R. Chidambaram.

Former ambassador to Pakistan Satish Lambah has been asked to handle the back-channels with President Musharraf’s emissary and NSA Tariq Aziz, but the decision on China talks is still hanging fire. Former ambassador Vijay Nambiar may be the front-runner for the special representative dialogue with Dai Bingguo, but External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh wants Foreign Secretary and old China hand Shyam Saran to handle the matter. Natwar’s argument is that since Bingguo is from the Chinese Foreign Office, the task should go to a serving officer from South Block, but the PM apparently wants to look beyond MEA before making a decision.

Lambah and the interlocutor with China will report to the PM and Natwar Singh, unlike Brajesh Mishra and J.N. Dixit, who bypassed the Ministry.

No decision has been taken on who will conduct the strategic dialogue with France, as Gerard de Montaigne’s counterpart. In fact, with the PM expected to make frequent visits abroad, there is a move to appoint a senior MEA official as a foreign policy advisor, on the lines of Ronen Sen, under Rajiv Gandhi, and Shyam Saran, under Narasimha Rao.

Singh also has to appoint a Deputy NSA, as incumbent Satish Chandra wants to give up the job. The Deputy NSA is also the secretary to the National Security Council Secretariat, that collates and analyses security inputs.

Although a section of the PMO wants this job to go to an intelligence chief who will soon retire, Natwar Singh wants the crucial position to go to a Foreign Service officer, so that Narayanan can get inputs from a foreign policy perspective. There is also a move to persuade Chandra to serve his full tenure till February next year.

Narayanan’s appointment was cleared by the PM after consultation with Brajesh Mishra, K. Subrahmanyam, Jasjit Singh, M.K. Rasgotra and S.K. Singh in the past fortnight. It was sealed after Singh paid a visit to 10 Janpath on Monday evening,.

The PM has to appoint a senior economic advisor to fill the shoes of former Finance Secretary S. Narayanan. Although Minister of State (PMO) Prithiviraj Chauhan has been giving the PM economic inputs, Singh is now looking for a senior official who can act as an interface between the Finance Ministry and the PMO.