Ex-foreign secretary, Shivshankar Menon, is new NSA

Shivshankar Menon

New Delhi: Former foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon was Thursday named as the new National Security Adviser (NSA). The announcement did not shed any light on the scope of his activities and merely stated his appointment. 

Speculation has been rife that Menon may preside over a truncated brief, as compared to his predecessor, and remain confined to strategic aspects of foreign policy with intelligence and security related issues removed from his purview. It was seen as likely that intelligence related matters, especially those related to internal security, would shift to the recently announced National Counter-terrorism Centre, which will function under the direct command of the Home ministry.

The home minister has indicated that NCTC will be up and running by the end of the year.

Menon's predecessor, MK Narayanan, has now been provided a sinecure as the Governor of West Bengal.

According to government officials, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared Menon's name on Thursday and formal orders will now be issued by the Department of Personnel and Training in a day.

Menon, 60, will function with the rank of minister of state.

The new appointee has previously served as ambassador to China, Pakistan, Israel and Sri Lanka. Along with previous incumbent Narayanan, he too played a crucial role in securing the India-US nuclear deal.

Narayanan, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, exercised all functions relating to external and internal security and intelligence coordination.