Powerless National Security Council (NSC):
- First, The National Security Council (NSC) set up in 1998 almost never meets, primarily because it is an advisory body, with the Cabinet Committee on Security being the executive body.
- If the NSC is to be made more useful, the government’s allocation of business rules should be amended to give more powers to the NSC and its subordinate organizations, such as the Strategic Policy Group.
Second, the job of the National Security Adviser needs to be reimagined:
- Even though the NSA plays a vital role in national security, he has no legal powers as per the government’s allocation of business rules.
- The C. Pant Task Force in the late 1990s had recommended the creation of an NSA with the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
- Over the years, the NSA’s powers have increased, even though he is not accountable to Parliament. The institution of the NSA today requires more accountability and legal formality.
