Shiv Shankar Menon to be new NSA

New Delhi, Jan 21 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday appointed former Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon as his new National Security Advisor (NSA).

Menon takes over from M K Narayanan who has been appointed as West Bengal Governor.

He is the second former foreign secretary to be appointed as NSA and will hold the rank of Minister of State. Earlier, former Foreign Secretary J N Dixit was NSA from May 2004 to January 2005.

Menon, a career diplomat, played a crucial role in the signing of the Indo - US civil nuclear cooperation agreement.

Before becoming Foreign Secretary, Menon had served as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Pakistan and, as India's Ambassador to China and Israel.

With Home Minister P Chidambaram pursuing reforms in his ministry, Menon, will in all probability focus on matters relating to strategic affairs and diplomacy.

Diplomacy runs in the veins of Menon family, which hails from Ottapalam in Kerala's Palakkad District.

K. P. S. Menon (Senior), India's first Foreign Secretary, is his grandfather and K. P. S. Menon (Junior), a former Indian ambassador to China, is his uncle. His father P.N. Menon was also a career diplomat and served as Ambassador to Yugoslavia. (ANI)