India’s first National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra on Wednesday suggested abolition of the key post he himself held for nearly six years, saying that the person holding it was not accountable to Parliament.
“In a Parliamentary democracy, a powerful person like the National Security Adviser (NSA) has no accountability to Parliament,” Mr. Mishra, who was NSA to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee between 1998 and 2004, told PTI here.
Mr. Mishra said that even during his tenure he was in favour of bringing the NSA and the National Security Council system under a separate Ministry for National Security which would be answerable to Parliament.
“The appointment of NSA was a political decision. It was in the BJP manifesto and was implemented when the NDA came to power,” the former NSA said. Mr. Mishra said that during his tenure he worked under the Principal Secretary so that the authority of the Prime Minister in matters related to the nuclear programme remained supreme.
