Former IB chief Asif Ibrahim, former diplomat Amar Sinha are likely to be new members of NSAB, which deals with security, foreign affairs.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has decided to expand the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) with the addition of three more officers, including former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Asif Ibrahim and former diplomat Amar Sinha.
Government sources said that a former Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W) officer could also become part of the expanded NSAB, whose principal objective is to undertake long-term analysis of and provide perspectives on issues of national security.
The policy recommendations and options proposed by the NSAB are conveyed to the National Security Council for its consideration, which comes under the realm of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Sources said that it was felt that more experts should be brought into NSAB given the changing dynamics of the security situation.
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The NSAB
The NSAB currently has former R&AW official A.B. Mathur (who was earlier with the IB), Lt General S.L. Narasimhan (retd), Vice Admiral Anil Chopra and Prof Bimal N. Patel of the Gujarat National Law University as members. The convenor was former ambassador to Russia P.S. Raghavan, who has now been designated as its chairman.
Sources said the new members come with specific expertise. Sinha, a former IFS officer, is known as an expert on Afghanistan where he served as India’s envoy. Ibrahim is an expert on the Middle East and is credited with helping India have a deeper security relationship with countries in that region.
The RA&W officer likely to be a part of the NSAB is Tilak Devesher, considered to be an expert on Pakistan.
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