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Congress manifesto on national security promises to make NSA accountable to Parliament

The 55-page manifesto states that Congress will “provide a statutory basis to the National Security Council (NSC) and the office of NSA”.

Congress manifesto on national security promises to make NSA accountable to Parliament

(Photo: Subrata Dutta/SNS)

The Congress manifesto on national security sought to make the office of National Security Adviser (NSA) accountable to Parliament besides vowing to establish the office of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

The 55-page manifesto which was released by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today states that the party will “provide a statutory basis to the National Security Council (NSC) and the office of National Security Adviser (NSA)”.

“Their powers and functions will be defined under the law and both authorities, and the agencies under them, will be accountable to Parliament,” the manifesto read.

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The office of the NSA reports only to the Prime Minister of India and is not accountable to Parliament.

“Congress will establish the office of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to be the principal adviser to the Government on matters relating to defence,” the party said in its manifesto.

Holding the NDA government responsible for declining spending in defence, the party said that it will increase the spending to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces.

The Congress vowed that it will expedite all modernisation programmes of the armed forces in a transparent manner.

“Congress promises to take strategic and hard measures to defend the territorial integrity of India and ensure the safety of our people,” the party manifesto said adding that it will also address matters of data security, cyber security, financial security, communication security and security of trade routes.

Promising that the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) will be re-established, the party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of leaving the body in a limbo between January 2015 and October 2016 before truncating it.

The party also said that the Congress will “rapidly expand domestic capacity to manufacture defence and security equipment”.

“We will create manufacturing capacities in the public sector and in pre-qualified, security-cleared private sector companies,” the manifesto stated.

The Congress also promised to establish National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) within 3 months of coming to power and make NATGRID operational by December 2019.

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