A national security task force, headed by former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra, has submitted its final report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Among the recommendations it has made, the task force, which had 13 others from Defence, intelligence, diplomacy and strategic affairs sectors, wants a major revamp of the structures and operating procedures of security and intelligence agencies.
The task force, set up in July 2011, was mandated to review existing processes, procedures and practices in the national security system and suggest measures for strengthening the national security apparatus wherever needed, including in non-traditional security sectors.
The report, prepared after 10 months of work, also wants India's planning commission to have a say in working out India's security policies.
The task force's work is likely to be the basis for India to prepare its first ever national security doctrine.
"Its members had extensive discussions between July 2011 and May 2012 with concerned ministries and departments as well as with several state governments and others.
"They also called on the prime minister, finance minister, Defence minister, external affairs minister, home minister, planning commission deputy chairman and the three Defence chiefs," according to the government..
"The task force has made an assessment of the security scenario facing the country and made recommendations to the government. The report of the task force is now with government for its consideration," it added.
Among other recommendations from the task force include greater say for the armed forces in national security decision-making and greater access to the prime minister and the country's top political leadership.
It also wants a designated political leader from the government to oversee the country's external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
If the report's recommendations are accepted, a key change in the Defence forces would be the focus given to role, capabilities and deployment of Special Forces commandos for key national security operations.
The task force's effort follows a similar first-ever focused exercise carried out under strategic affairs expert and former Defence secretary, the late K. Subramanyam, about 10 years ago soon after the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan.
The task force had former Intelligence Bureau chief PC Haldar, former Research and Analysis Wing chief KC Verma, former National Investigation Agency chief RV Raju, former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, former Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, and former Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen VR Raghavan, apart from bureaucrats Brajeshwar Singh and Vinod K Duggal as members.
Other members of the task force were National Council of Applied Economic Research director Suman K Berry, former diplomat and high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarathy, former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar, former Mumbai Police commissioner D Sivanandan, and journalist Manoj Joshi. |