The national security team that PM Modi has selected not only enjoys his trust and confidence, but also has the experience to deliver

by Sushant Sareen

With the reappointment of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval for the next five years and his elevation to cabinet rank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got a fearsome foursome to handle the entire spectrum of national security and foreign policy. The team comprising of Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the NSA Ajit Doval is something of a security dream-team, actually more team than dream. The speculation doing the rounds about how Modi was either going to cut someone to size or play one against the other really had no firm basis. If anything, it stemmed from lack of access to the corridors of power, and even more, the sheer lack of knowledge of how the Modi-led dispensation functions, and the inter-personal relations between the various team members.

The thing is that in this dispensation, Modi is the undisputed boss. The entire team he selects has to work towards a purpose which is laid down and defined by him. Modi is a hands-on Prime Minister, always wanting to be in the loop and always keeping a watch. And yet, he empowers his colleagues enough to take decisions that deliver the goods. There are debates and discussions, even disagreements about what policy approach to adopt. But to construe from this that there are huge personality clashes, ego problems and cut-throat competition between team members who are constantly trying to undercut each other to curry favour with the boss is incorrect. From what one has learnt about the functioning of the Modi government, it is anything but a durbar where getting the ear or attention of the top boss is the ticket to power. Officials trying to flaunt their proximity to the PM to increase their importance have learnt the hard way that this is strongly discouraged. Modi values the work, not visage, of his colleagues and officials. Performance and probity matter more to Modi than proximity. And loyalty scores over obsequiousness and sycophancy.

The national security team that Modi has selected not only enjoys his complete trust and confidence, but also has the experience, gravitas and commitment to deliver. Together, they will bring to bear the intellectual heft, the operational experience and the political savvy in taking decisions and making policy. With Modi as boss, this is a team that will be working in conjunction, and not at cross purposes. Instead of conflict and pulling things in their direction, there will be cooperation and coordination of action. There will be no empire building by members of this team. The fearsome foursome might have their own styles and preferences for achieving the objectives before them, but they will work in a way that they complement each other. They will be perfect foils for each other, and will be able to play the good-cop-bad-cop routine to a fault.

This will require all the cooperation and coordination between them. Again, on the other big ticket items – relations with the P5, for instance – working in silos will not help. India’s foreign policy will be designed to maximise her economic and security requirements. Here again, the entire team will need to work as one, each according to his own areas of strength. With China, if the NSA will be the point-man in border talks, the EAM will bring in the soft touch of diplomacy and RM will add the military heft and political wisdom. For defence modernisation and restructuring the framework for higher defence management, the diverse opinions on the table could result in some out of the box policy solutions.

Despite the onerous task that awaits the national security team, their appointment instils confidence that India’s national security is in solid hands, especially with the top boss having demonstrated decisiveness and resolve to defend India. The fearsome foursome will certainly send shivers across India’s western border. It will also cause immense heart-burn, and perhaps nightmares for op-ed writers in India. But it is a team that will serve India well.

The author is Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation. Views are personal