NEW DELHI: Prime Minister V.P. Singh announced in the lower house the constitution of a national security council which will take a holistic view of national security issues in the light of the external, economic, political and military situations and their linkages with the country’s domestic concerns and objectives.
He said the prime minister would be the chairman and the ministers of defence, finance, home and external affairs its members. The council may, as necessary, request other union ministers and any chief minister of a state to attend its meetings. It may also invite experts and specialists to attend its meetings as necessary.
The subjects submitted for consideration of the council would broadly cover the following:
The external threat scenario, defence policies, other security threats, especially those involving energy, space and high technology, internal security covering aspects such as counterterrorism and counterintelligence, patterns of alienation likely to emerge within the country, especially those with a social, communal or regional dimension, security implications of evolving trends in the world economy on India’s economic and foreign policies, external economic threats in areas such as energy, commerce, food and finance, threats posed by trans-border crimes such as smuggling and traffic in arms, drugs and narcotics, evolving a national consensus on strategic and security issues.
The council shall be assisted by a strategic core group comprising the cabinet secretary as chairman and representatives of three services and the ministries concerned.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 31, 1990
