New Delhi, March 3
India’s National Security Adviser, Mr M. K. Narayanan was today appointed Special Representative for border talks with China, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Tribune tonight.

The appointment order was signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself in the evening after the Prime Minister discussed the issue with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh.

Mr Narayanan confirmed his appointment to this correspondent. When asked whether he had been conveyed the news about his latest responsibility by the PM himself, he said: “I meet the PM several times in a day, but this particular appointment I learnt from a written order sent to me.”

India and China have already held four rounds of talks on the border issue. China’s Special Representative for border talks with India, Mr Dai Bingguo, has remained unchanged while from the Indian side Mr Narayanan will be the third one to fill in this slot.

Mr Brajesh Mishra, the powerful NSA and Principal Secretary to PM during the NDA rule, had held two rounds of talks with Mr Dai. Mr Brajesh Mishra’s successor, Mr J. N. Dixit, who passed away some weeks ago, held two more rounds of talks with Mr Dai.

The fifth round of border talks is slated to take place here shortly. This will be maiden round of talks for Mr Narayanan. Though Mr Narayanan is a former IPS officer who has had two tenures as chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB), in the bureaucratic and security circles here he is considered to be an authority on China.

Mr Narayanan’s appointment as India’s pointman for border talks with China comes at a time when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is slated to come here in the last week of this month or the first week of next month on a crucial visit. The dates of the Chinese Premier’s India visit are still to be worked out because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s bilateral visits to Sri Lanka and Mauritius are also going to take place in March-April.

The appointment of Mr Narayanan has immense political significance and many observers see it as abetting the IFS-IPS rivalry within the establishment. The Ministry of External Affairs wanted retired diplomats to fill in as India’s pointmen for China and Pakistan — a role that Mr Brajesh Mishra and then Mr J. N. Dixit performed as NSA. The candidature of Mr Vijay Nambiar and S. K. Lamba was being pushed by the MEA for the two posts.

It is understood that while the MEA has seemingly lost out on getting its man on the hot seat of pointman for China, its candidate may get the PM’s nod for Pakistan. Mr Nambiar may get the role of India’s pointman for Pakistan.