You are the first Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister who comes from a foreign service background instead of the IAS. And because of this, you seem to lack the same grip over the bureaucracy and administration like your predecessors such as N.N. Vohra and A.N. Verma. As a result, the PMO gives the impression ofbeing indecisive and ineffective.

To begin with, that was the situation. I knew much more about external affairs than about food grains and prices. But I find that in the last two or three months, things have changed and now I'm getting good cooperation from other ministries and departments of the Government.

You must remember that this Government has many alliance partners and we have to be sensitive to their views. The PMO does not send out instructions to other ministries. This may give the impression that it is indecisive. But the Prime Minister is not given to arbitrary functioning. It doesn't suit his personality. He is a man who likes to build consensus and the PMO reflects his personality.

But aren't you more interested in foreign affairs than in domestic affairs and spend more time on files of the MEA than of other ministries?

That is certainly not true. At least half my day is spent on looking at files that come to me from other ministries. There are two reasons for the impressionthat I am more interested in external affairs. One, because I come from the Foreign Service. And two, because of the diplomatic fallout of the nuclear tests. I have had to keep myself busy with this because the Prime Minister is also the External Affairs Minister.

There is a third point. The media always wanted to contact me on foreign affairs and not on other things.

I've assisted the Prime Minister on the insurance business and whether to take the EMR route or go in for product patent right away, to mention a few examples.

But haven't you found your foreign service background a handicap? After all, you have had to learn on the job.

You're quite right, I've been learning on the job. But I feel that anyone who comes to the PMO has to have a different kind of outlook than when he was in a ministry.

I think two factors have helped me. First, I am 11 years senior to the highest serving civil servant. Secondly, because of my connections with the Prime Minister, people are learning that when I saysomething, it is coming from the very top. I wouldn't like to compare myself to P.N. Haksar -- he was a much greater man than me -- but perhaps only he had a similar relationship with Mrs Gandhi.

Ultimately, bureaucratic methods are the same. I know how the system works. I also know that I can cut through red tape but not go outside the system because if I do, the system will put up a wall.

So are you saying that you welcome the appointment of an External Affairs Minister?

Yes, of course. I am very happy despite what everybody says. It will certainly ease my workload.

You are also the first Principal Secretary who was a member of the ruling party before taking on the job. And unlike those who came before you, you quite happily give interviews to television and newspapers. Is this part of a profile-building exercise?

I don't need to build a profile for myself. My appearances before the media are a result of the nuclear tests, to explain the Government's point of view. Sometimes, therewere different voices speaking on the issue. The Prime Minister asked me to correct the picture.

As for my being a member of the BJP, I resigned from the party the day before I joined office.

How would you describe your role in the PMO?

I am a sounding board for the Prime Minister. He discusses what he's thinking on various issues and we have a sort of brainstorming session.In addition, I would say I have three important functions. First, I have to be aware of what is going on in the Government and keep the Prime Minister informed. Secondly, I have to convey his directions to various ministries and departments.

Thirdly, we have our own system here of giving our views to the Prime Minister which gives us the advantage of being frank in our internal notings. Most of my time goes in going through these notes.

There seems to be a big gap in the PMO on economic affairs. You yourself are more of an expert on foreign affairs. And even the PM's main interest has been foreign affairs and securityissues.

I can't deny that I am more interested in nuclear and defence-related issues and foreign affairs. But the Prime Minister, as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has shown a lot of interest in economic issues and spoken any number of times on the subject in Parliament.

Yet, an economic issue -- the spurt in onion prices -- was behind the BJP's electoral defeat. In fact, the Government's poor performance on the economic front is being blamed on the lack of expertise in the PMO in this field.

First let me tell you, the onion crisis was one of a kind. It does not reflect the real functioning of this Government. There were a lot of factors responsible for the rise in onion prices. I am not trying to excuse the Government but let's take an objective view. We had a double dose of unseasonal rains around Diwali and that had a very substantial effect on the onion crop.

But the episode has given us some important lessons. You know that the Cabinet Committee on Prices is now headed by thePrime Minister himself. And we are monitoring prices on a daily basis. So far, the exercise of production forecasting was limited to food grains, edible oils and sugar. Because of our experience with onions, now we are getting into vegetables as well.

The Government gives the impression of being at war with itself. Of ministers fighting with their bureaucrats. Again this is being blamed on the ineffectiveness of the PMO.

Look, this is a very sensitive issue. All I can say is that different ministers have different personalities and come from different backgrounds.

Many of them are impatient to get on with the job assigned to them by the Prime Minister. They find the rules and regulations which govern day-to-day business too cumbersome. They feel these hamper rather than accelerate the process of good governance.

This may develop a process of disharmony but I would say that now both sides are beginning to learn that the system can be reformed. It cannot be abolished.

But why was the PMO notmore effective in stopping things from going out of hand in ministries like Urban Development and Social Welfare?

It is difficult for me to go public on the kind of action the PMO took. But let me assure you that there would have been far greater outcry in public from both sides if we had not stepped in.

The advisory board of the National Security Council is packed with people who belong to a generation past. Do you think they are in tune with the strategic needs of a nuclear India? What was the need for such a large body anyway?

Not everybody there is old, maybe the foreign affairs specialists, yes. But we have younger economists and scientists.

Look, the NSC will have to evolve. We will learn by the way we work in these three bodies. The advisory board will be reviewed after a year to see how it functions. It is not possible to come up with a perfect mechanism at the beginning. It may succeed as it is, it may have to be changed.