Prime Minister's Office is now a powerful entity

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emerged from the shadow of being a "nominated" head of government. More importantly, the Prime Minister's Office is now a powerful entity and the decision maker in the crucial areas of foreign policy and Kashmir, North East and the Naxal issue.

National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit, although just a minister of state in government, has outranked External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh whose policy of equating cross border infiltration with a resolution of Kashmir was summarily discarded by the prime minister in New York at his meeting with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf.

Instead the deal worked out between Dixit and his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz received full play with Singh steering clear of the rhetoric of the past few months to open the door for a negotiated settlement of Jammu and Kashmir.

It has been clearly demonstrated that policy with Pakistan will be determined by the PMO, with Dixit now in charge of this all important bilateral relation. Doors have been opened directly between the PMO and President Musharraf. Both leaders have made it clear that they would like to "do business" with each other.

Dixit is in charge of foreign policy in the PMO, and widely perceived in official circles as the person behind Singh's success at New York. Sources said that both are now very close and share a good rapport.

The quiet and self effacing former Intelligence Bureau chief M.K. Narayanan is the prime minister's point man for India's troubled spots, Kashmir, the North East and the Naxal problem. Sources say that Singh has been worried about the Home Ministry's handling of these issues, and has given full authority to Narayanan to look into these issues and evolve a plan of action.

Manipur leaders have met Singh and got his clearance to convince the agitating groups in the state to talk to the centre.

The prime minister assured them, even before Home Minister Shivraj Patil did, that the centre would talk directly to the Manipur activists and consider their demands with an open mind.

Singh had also decided to visit Jammu and Kashmir, before going to New York but had to postpone this because of objections raised by the Election Commission.

Singh's close team is of non-Congressmen whose loyalties rest with him. He relies completely on his media advisor Sanjaya Baru who was the final authority in determining the composition of the media team accompanying the prime minister to New York.

Initial complaints against Baru of being supportive of the BJP were dismissed by Singh as irrelevant.

Congress leaders hold him responsible for organising the prime minister's first interview to RSS mouthpiece, Panchjanya.

The prime minister, sources said, has a close, personal relationship with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, under attack from the communists for being a "World Bank man" and packing the Planning Commission with foreign consultants. He accompanied Singh as part of the official delegation to New York and organised the "successful" meetings with CEO's and the business community in New York.

- The Asian Age