Pant may head NSC
George Iypein New Delhi
Former defence minister Krishna Chandra Pant is likely to be appointed as the national security advisor to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the government sets up the proposed National Security Council.
Pant, who heads the Task Force that recommended the immediate setting up of the NSC last week, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in February.
The Task Force had suggested that the NSC should be headed by a Cabinet rank advisor to the prime minister and consist of three wings to look after long-term strategic planning, co-ordinate current decision-making and follow-up the policy implementation.
Official sources said Pant is the front-runner for the top post as Vajpayee has made up his mind to induct a political appointee.
In fact, since there are few politicians outside the Vajpayee Cabinet who qualify for such a challenging job, the prime minister's first choice is said to be Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh.
But Singh, who eloquently and successfully explained India's security concerns to the United States in the wake of the nuclear tests, is likely to be inducted as the external affairs minister when Vajpayee expands his Cabinet after the Budget session of Parliament.
"As Jaswant Singh's appointment as a minister is certain, the prime
minister feels the only able politician who could head the NSC is Pant," an official source told Rediff On The NeT.
He said, by appointing Pant, the prime minister will send the right signals about the NSC's importance as the former is considered an astute security expert as well as a well-known politician.
But the setting up of the NSC is in its initial stages and Vajpayee will take all the Opposition parties into confidence before appointing the security advisor, the official added.
The Vajpayee Cabinet, which discussed the modalities of setting up the NSC on Tuesday, is said to have decided that the post should not be held by a political lightweight, but someone who has national eminence and vast experience in the field.
Pant, who served as the country's defence minister under Rajiv Gandhi, was a key minister in the Indira Gandhi team.
When India conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974, Pant, as a minister of state, assisted Indira Gandhi in the departments of atomic energy, electronics, space, science and technology.
Officials said the government's effort is to avoid the confusion that was created by then prime minister V P Singh regarding the constitution of the NSC.
Singh was the first prime minister who took the initiative to set up an NSC in 1990. But the NSC turned out to be unwieldy. It met just once.
The apex security agency became defunct after the Congress government led by P V Narasimha Rao came to power in June 1991.
The Vajpayee government is also planning to staff the NSC with the best and brightest officers from the military. The men in uniform have often complained that the defence ministry is largely staffed by civilian officials.
Sources said outstanding officers, as special secretaries to the national security advisor, will head the three NSC wings.
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