This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000709 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2015 
TAGS: PINR PINS PREL PGOV IN PK

SUBJECT: INDIA REINVENTING NSA POSITION 
  REF: NEW DELHI 301 
  Classified By: DCM Robert O. Blake, Jr. Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request.  Please see para 11. 
 
¶2.  (C) Summary: MK Narayanan, formally named on January 25  as India's new NSA, will be a different kind of National  Security Adviser than his high-profile, powerful  predecessors, JN Dixit and Brajesh Mishra.  After several  weeks of debate over who and what kind of a NSA the country  needs, PM Manmohan Singh has decided on the low-profile  Narayanan in a scaled-down role.  The new NSA will reportedly  lose key portfolios Dixit and Mishra had, including the  backchannel with Pakistan and negotiator for boundary talks  with China, and the rest of the job description remains  unclear, but Narayanan will apparently be tasked with  reinvigorating India's national security institutions, such  as its moribund NSC.  The NSA's reduced diplomatic function  is a victory for the Foreign Minister, who had fought to  regain the dominant role in Indian foreign policy he lost to  Mani Dixit.  Narayanan will be joined by a new deputy NSA and  new RAW and IB chiefs.  In the weeks ahead, the GOI will  define the NSA position further, but for now we do not appear  to have with Narayanan the ""one-stop shop"" for all foreign  policy issues that we enjoyed with his two predecessors. 
Mission recommends an early introductory phone call from NSA  Hadley to his new counterpart.  End Summary. 
  Narayanan Gets Dixit's Title; Job is Evolving 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) The January 25 announcement that acting NSA MK  Narayanan would replace JN Dixit on a permanent basis has not  ended speculation on what kind of an NSA Narayanan will be. 
PMO Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan recently told  reporters that ""a redefinition of the role of the NSA may be  in the cards,"" while PM Singh reportedly sounded out over a  dozen people over the past three weeks -- including Mishra,  former Defense Secretary K Subrahmanyan, and former High  Commissioner to Pakistan SK Lambah -- to that effect. 
Although no official announcements in this regard have yet  been made, press reports citing unnamed GOI officials suggest  that Narayanan will retain his internal security portfolio  but will not take up the diplomatic roles of his  predecessors.  Numerous media commentators have opined that  the change will permit Narayanan to address other NSA  functions, such as internal and economic security, which  Dixit and Mishra neglected. 
  Giving Diplomacy Back to the MEA 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) The widely rumored selection of Satish Lambah  (septel) to serve as the backchannel with Pakistani NSA Tariq  Aziz on Indo-Pak talks reinforces the GOI's transformation of  the NSA position, as does FM Natwar Singh's thinly-veiled  indication -- reported on January 28 by well-connected ""Times  of India"" Foreign Affairs correspondent Indrani Bagchi --  that retired UN PermRep Vijay Nambiar would take up the  charge of Special Envoy for the India-China boundary talks. 
(NOTE: On January 27, Lambah told PolCouns that no decision  had yet been made regarding his appointment.  End Note.)  Both Lambah and Nambiar are viewed as close to Natwar, which  extends the MEA's clear victory in lodging diplomacy firmly  ""back where it belongs.""  Narayanan is expected to accompany  PM Singh to the February 6-7 SAARC Summit, where he will have  the opportunity to meet the Pakistanis, not as India's  point-person on foreign policy, but as an aide to the PM. 
  Back to the Original Mandate 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The PM's decision to redefine the NSA position  appears to be the first step in implementing the Congress  Party election promise to turn the National Security Council  into a ""professional and effective"" institution.  For the  last year, but especially since Dixit's death, a number of  Indian strategists have argued for restoring the position's  original mandate, in which the NSA reports to an NSC  comprised of the PM with the Home, Foreign, Finance and  Defense Ministers and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning  Commission.  It was envisioned at that time that the NSC  would focus on external threats; security issues surrounding  atomic energy, space and high technology; security related to  global economic trends; domestic ""patterns of alienation""  (i.e. separatist groups); trans-national threats such as  narco-trafficking and arms smuggling; and coordination of  intelligence collection and activities.  Such a reform would  bring the NSA position more in line with that of other senior  GOI officials and end the ""super-minister"" status that  Narayanan's two predecessors enjoyed. 
 
¶6.  (C) An NSA focused on security and institution-building  and away from personal diplomacy is likely to increase the  role of the NSC and its Secretariat.  Brahma Chellany of New  Delhi's Centre for Policy Research described the  ""twice-established (1990 and 1999), twice-dormant"" NSC as an  ""archetypal case of how good intentions can go wrong"" when  strong NSAs such as Dixit and Mishra were able to eclipse and  ignore the NSC, and turn the National Security Advisory Board  into ""a PR shop for the NSA.""  Noted strategist K  Subrahmanyan has also been pushing for a forward-looking NSA  and NSC that would ""coordinate and promote integrated  thinking among the Home, Defense, External Affairs and  Finance Ministries"" toward devising ""long-term policies based  on the assessments of long-term problems.""  ""What is needed  is an NSA who will be a team leader with a balanced  worldview, able to lead a multi-disciplinary team and  committed to building the institution ... and not be  considered a threat by any of the Cabinet ministers who are  to become members of the NSC.""  Narayanan has yet to prove  that he is a strategic thinker in the mold of his  predecessors, or that he can provide that ""balanced  worldview."" 
  What Narayanan Brings to the Table 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Narayanan has a number of the qualities that would be  valuable if the NSA is in fact recast as outlined above.  He  is a proven manager, having twice served as head of the  Intelligence Bureau (IB), and will have as one of his first  assignments streamlining the national security policymaking  process.  He recently told reporters, ""The idea is to cut  through the bureaucracy even in the PMO and hasten the pace  of decisionmaking.""  Further, Narayanan has held other senior  advisory posts, and is comfortable being the bearer of bad  news, which is an inevitable task for an NSA (reftel). 
 
¶8.  (C) By his own admission, Narayanan is a security and  intelligence professional who prefers to work out of the  limelight.  Divesting the NSA from diplomacy will allow  Narayanan to focus on the internal and external security  issues that are his forte, including the anticipated  ""emergency overhaul"" of RAW under its newly-named chief, PK  Hormis Tharakan, and addressing the rise in domestic Maoist  violence and separatism that the new IB director, ESL  Narasimhan, will face.  We expect that the low-profile  Narayanan will not offer policy pronouncements that later  need to be walked back by the PM, such as Dixit's telling  journalists that New Delhi would accept a permanent UNSC seat  minus veto power. 
  Narayanan Will Soon Have a New Deputy 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) With Narayanan's appointment, PM Singh will need to  consider a new Deputy NSA if the incumbent, former diplomat  Satish Chandra, retires as expected on January 31.  The  individual selected for this post will further define the  NSA's role, since he or she will (under the current  arrangement) sit at the top of the NSC organization.  The  merging of the external and internal security portfolios  under the NSA post has not yet been officially announced --  so a new Special Adviser to the PM on Internal Security could  also be selected, although Narayanan's IB background makes  that unlikely. 
  Comment 
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¶10.  (C) The changes the GOI has in store for the NSA  position appear to be significant.  Divesting the India-China  boundary talks and Indo-Pak back channel from Narayanan's  responsibilities downgrades the power and visibility of the  office, and represents a victory for the Foreign Minister,  who is no doubt pleased that the PM has returned diplomacy  ""back where it belongs.""  Redefining the NSA also reflects  the PM's desire to strengthen institutions that have  atrophied under Dixit and Mishra, who used the position to  pursue larger-than-life foreign policy roles.  These changes  will have implications for how the USG deals with Narayanan,  as we lose the ""one-stop shop"" on India's foreign policy  concerns and the ""go-to"" person with the vision and clout  necessary to move initiatives pigeon-holed in the GOI's  turf-conscious bureaucracies. 
  ¶11.  (C) Nonetheless, Narayanan's office just down the hall  from the PM, his longstanding relationship with Sonia Gandhi,  and his demonstrated intellect will make him a force to be  reckoned with in the UPA government.  Narayanan has welcomed  contact with Mission interlocutors and remains always  accessible.  With all this in mind, Mission recommends an  early introductory call from NSA Hadley to his new Indian  counterpart. 
MULFORD