NEW DELHI, 4 April 2005 — Dissatisfied by the performance of the National Security Council (NSC), the government has decided to reorganize the role and scope of the top advisory board on security matters. “The government is keen to give a more definitive role to the National Security Council. It will meet within the next two months and take a view on the matter,” a senior official said.
“If you notice, the NSC, for example, is not involved in the peace process in Nagaland or in talks with the tribals. These are the issues on which a view has to be taken,” the official said. The council is chaired by Manmohan Singh and has not met even once since his United Progressive Alliance government was sworn in May 22, 2004. Officials said though the composition of both the NSC and the Cabinet Committee on Security was similar, if not identical, the former had a “deliberative” role while the latter was “action oriented”.
These are some of the issues on which a decision is proposed by the first week of June. The NSC’s next meeting will also discuss two papers, the officials said, without divulging the nature of their subjects.
Meanwhile, India’s top army commanders will begin an annual brainstorming session here today to take stock of the overall security scenario ahead of key visits by the heads of China and Pakistan.
The four-day commanders’ conference will also be the first to be chaired by new army chief, Gen. J.J. Singh, who has advocated a more humane approach to counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
Army officials said a host of key issues, including the thaw in India-Pakistan ties and the beginning of a bus service linking the divided parts of Kashmir, border talks with China and implementing the army’s new war-fighting doctrine, will figure in the conference.
The conference is being held ahead of visits this month by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The meeting will be addressed by Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is expected to outline the policy directions for the army in his speech.
The commanders of the army’s various formations and principal staff officers at Army Headquarters will attend the conference, which will also take stock of the force’s preparedness and review the status of counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir and the northeast. In the northeast, Assam has witnessed a recent surge in violence, with a string of blasts since the Republic Day Jan 26 that have been blamed on the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
The army’s new war fighting doctrine, which was adopted last year, will be reviewed. The doctrine envisages the use of highly mobile strike forces in the event of hostilities, a break from the army’s traditional practice of massing huge forces for a conflict.
The key issue of discipline will also be taken up, officials said. In recent months, the army top brass has been worried by cases involving officers who were accused of faking “kills” in operations to gain commendations or indulging in corruption and extortion.
The army has already dismissed several officers and has initiated action against an official accused of extorting money from a tea garden manager in Assam while posing as a Naga rebel leader. Coordination and the joint planning and execution of operations with the air force and navy, the induction of missiles and other strategic issues will also be taken up at the conference, which is held twice every year.
