Will Audit of Dolkun Isa Visa Fiasco Indirectly Indict PMO?

Besides the MHA, the PMO too could find itself in the dock for the Dolkun Isa visa fiasco, writes Rajeev Sharma.

• Dolkun Isa visa issue has caused a huge dent in Modi’s image as a strong leader
  
• Independent internal audit of the Isa visa fiasco could lead the trail to (MHA) and even the PMO
  
• Baffling that the nodal authority, the MEA, was kept out of the loop
  
• It would be hard to ignore NSA Ajit Doval’s role in the Dolkun Isa visa issue, but can IB director take such a decision all by himself?
  
• Why has the PM not ordered an audit?
  

It is not known whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conducted an internal audit on why China’s bug bear and prominent Uighur leader Dolkun Isa was issued an Indian e-visa in the first place and then subsequently revoked, evidently under Chinese pressure. The episode has caused a huge dent in Modi’s image as a strong leader.

He may or may not have. Because after all, if Modi were to conduct such internal audits he will have to do so many times on a weekly basis considering the pace and consistency at which his government is floundering on important issues, be it political, economic or foreign policy.

But an objective and fiercely independent internal audit of the Isa visa fiasco would lead the trail to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and even the PMO.

MEA Out of the Loop

It is baffling that the nodal authority, the Ministry of External Affairs, was not consulted in the entire Isa visa saga. The Isa episode was dealt with primarily by the MHA with the MEA kept out of the loop.

In the MHA, the person on the driving seat on the Isa visa issue was Dineshwar Sharma, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) director. Sharma was hand-picked by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Obviously, a decision like issuing visa to a prominent Chinese dissident and risking a major diplomatic row with Beijing was something that goes well beyond the IB chief’s pay grade. This means that he was taking instructions from someone.

IB Chief’s Decision?

Considering that the MEA was kept out of the loop, it is fair to assume that the IB chief was taking instructions from the PMO. Who could that be?

In the Modi dispensation, the PMO has emerged as a super ministry. It is an open secret that the PMO has been navigating policies while a number of regulatory ministries have been relatively marginalised.

PMO Supremacy

Even on foreign policy issues it is the PMO rather than the MEA which calls the shots. Particularly in context of India’s relations with key neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China, it is Doval who shepherds India’s foreign policy with regard to these two countries with whom India has waged wars. Any internal audit on the Isa visa fiasco would therefore lead to doors of the PMO and in such a scenario it would be hard to overlook Doval’s role.

But why would Doval assume responsibility for the momentous decision of issuing visa to a leading Chinese dissident, particularly when he himself had to visit China as the PM’s special envoy and discuss with his Chinese interlocutors issues much bigger than merely the India-China boundary dispute? Doval was in China last week precisely on a strategic mission.

That the MEA was not consulted on the Isa visa issue cannot be disputed. The question that assumes importance is whether the IB director can take such a decision all by himself? This is not how government functions, least of all in the Modi dispensation where ministers have to get even lowly appointments such as those of private secretaries approved by the PMO first.

Spotlight on Doval

In that sense, while the internal audit trail on the Isa visa issue may point to some role Doval might have played, it will be both unfair and unrealistic to put the blame solely at the NSA’s doors.

Knowing Doval and his style of functioning, he wouldn’t have choreographed the Dolkun Isa episode without the express approval of Modi himself. Perhaps that is the reason why there is complete silence on whether the PM has ordered an internal audit on the subject in the first place.

However, Doval should be doubly cautious as he is faced with pressures and challenges not so much from the opposition as much as from within the government. He has been in the thick of controversies of late, particularly since the January 2-5 terror attack on the Pathankot airbase.

Whispers in the political corridors suggest that many cabinet ministers have openly started questioning certain decisions by Doval and even his style of functioning, particularly since the Pathankot terror attack. This is an unfolding story which needs to be watched closely. After all, Modi is known to be a tough task master.

(The writer is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha)