Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad were among the prominent personalities who attended the cremation.
Brajesh Mishra, the country's first National Security Adviser who played a key role in foreign policy matters and pushed for deeper engagement with the United States, died in New Delhi on Friday evening following a heart ailment.
India's first NSA Brajesh Mishra's combination of hard-headed realism and outspokenness ensured that he always spoke up for India -- not necessarily for the BJP, notes Jyoti Malhotra.
Senior analyst B Raman assesses Brajesh Mishra's role as India's first National Security Advisor, his part in the 1998 nuclear tests, the Kargil conflict and more.
Former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra, during whose tenure India-China relations had improved significantly, has said that China's present threat to India is more dangerous than in 1962, when the countries clashed in a war, and that Indian politicians were to blame for India's weak defence position.
Former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Wednesday said that he played no role in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper deal.
Terming the opposition in Parliament over the End User Monitoring Agreement between India and the United States as 'bunkum', former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra said, "We should ask these leaders to address the question: do you want defence equipment from US or not?"He said, "If you want to buy the American agreement, then you will have to agree to the EUMA also. It is up to you to decide what you want."
Several officers in the intelligence agencies want the role of the National Investigation Agency clearly defined to avoid lack of cooperation between the Centre and states.
Former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra said on Thursday that senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Home Minister L K Advani was aware of all the key decisions taken with regard to the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
The class 12 English exam of the Uttar Pradesh secondary school board was cancelled in 24 districts after the question paper was leaked hours before the beginning of the test on Wednesday.
'They are both very individualistic and have similar personalities.'
'Advani went by the book, by files, by advice given by his babus. He may be well read and articulate and a pleasant conversationalist, but none of that makes for the kind of creative politician that Vajpayee was.' 'This is the kind of observation about the Vajpayee premiership, more than the promise of espionage or Kashmir gossip, that made writing A S Dulat's book a satisfying experience,' says Aditya Sinha.
Dai Bingguo, who served as the China's boundary negotiator with India from 2003 to 2013, told Chinese media, "If the Indian side takes care of China's concerns in the eastern sector of their border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India's concerns elsewhere."
'The heart of the matter is that India is not Israel.'
'He is still compulsively an operations man. Just a whiff of a live operation, and he is back in the field, at least in his mind. That is why the immediate decision to send the NSG to Pathankot.' 'But there is a difference between classical intelligence or counter-terror operation and dealing with a larger threat to a place as sensitive and sprawling as an air force base. This is what led to confusion and mix-ups,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Poor home work, and a subsequent loss of nerve.' 'This sums up the Modi government's current travails, the stall in key sectors, fading momentum, irritability,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
'The Modi government's pusillanimity vis-a-vis Pakistan makes almost certain that India will, in the coming weeks and months, be confronted with cross border terrorist actions of increasing intensity,' warns Satish Chandra, former deputy national security adviser.
Who are the men the prime minister relies on to execute his impressive agenda?
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