Boost For National Security: Team Modi Expands Apparatus, Inducts Ex-IB Chief And Ex-Diplomat Into Advisory Panel

The Modi government is expanding the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) with induction of three new members in the body, Indian Express has reported.

According to the report, former Intelligence Bureau chief Asif Ibrahim and ex-diplomat Amar Sinha will be the new members of the body. The government is reportedly also expected to induct a former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer.

India’s former ambassador to Russia, P S Raghavan, who is currently the convener of NSAB, will be appointed as its chairman.

NSAB deals with internal and external security, foreign affairs, defence, science and technology and economic affairs and usually meets at least once a month.

Sinha, a former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is an expert on Afghanistan, where he served as an envoy. Ibrahim is an expert on the middle east, the region he engaged with as the Prime Minister’s special envoy on ‘Countering Terrorism and Extremism’.

The other members of the board are former R&AW official A B Mathur, Lt Gen (retd) S L Narasimhan and Prof Bimal N Patel of Gujarat National Law University.

The recommendations and options proposed by the NSAB are conveyed to the National Security Council (NSC) for consideration. The NSC comes under National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The three-tier structure of the NSC comprises the Strategic Policy Group (SPG), the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and the National Security Council Secretariat. The NSAB undertakes long-term analysis and provides perspectives on issues of national security.