Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Coordinates: 28°34′16″N 77°08′59″E / 28.5712°N 77.1496°E / 28.5712; 77.1496

Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis
IDSA Logo
Formation November 11, 1965 (1965-11-11)
Type Public Policy Think Tank
Headquarters 1, Development Enclave, Rao Tularam Marg, New Delhi 110010
Location
Director General
 Jayant Prasad
Staff
70
Website IDSA.in

Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, is an Indian think tank for advanced research in international relations, especially strategic and security issues, and providing training to civilian and military officers of the Indian government. It is funded by the Indian Ministry of Defence but operates as a non-partisan and autonomous body. It aims to promote national and international security by carrying out research on defence and security-related issues and disseminating the knowledge among the policy-makers and wider public.[1][2]

IDSA has been called by media as one of India's most influential think-tanks. But journalist Prashant Jha states that it is seen only as an extension of the Ministry of Defence, a perception countered by the organisation's deputy director general (retired brigadier) Rumel Dahiya.[3]

The University of Pennsylvania's Global Go To Think Tank Index ranked IDSA 41st in the world in 2017. It received the top position among Indian think tanks.[4]

History

IDSA was established on 11 November 1965 as a non-partisan and autonomous body. It is funded by the Indian Ministry of Defence and plays a key role in shaping India's foreign and security policies.[1]

Governance

IDSA is governed by an Executive Council, whose members are distinguished personalities from various walks of life and which is headed by a President. The Council is supported by Committees covering different aspects of the Institute's work. Executive Council Committees include: Appointments Committee, Programme Committee, Finance Committee, Membership Committee, and Core Committee for the New Campus. Members of the Council are elected for two-year terms at the Annual General Body meeting.

The President is by convention, an ex-officio position, held by the incumbent Defence Minister. The current President is Nirmala Sitharaman.

Past heads

Name From To
D. Som Dutt1 August 196631 July 1968
K. Subrahmanyam10 October 196830 September 1975
P.R. Chari1 October 197531 March 1980
K. Subrahmanyam1 April 198031 July 1987
Jasjit Singh1 August 198731 July 2001
K.Santhanam1 August 200131 July 2004
C. Uday Bhaskar (Officiating)1 August 20048 September 2005
N.S. Sisodia9 September 200515 November 2011
Arvind GuptaJanuary 2012July 2014

Activities

Research

The Institute's presently focused research areas are divided in following categories: South Asia, East Asia, Russia and Central Asia, West Asia and Africa, Europe and Americas, Military Affairs, Non-Traditional Security, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Terrorism and International Security. The Institute has a strong research faculty of more than fifty distinguished scholars drawn from academia, defence, foreign affairs, media and other civil services. The Institute's state-of-the-art library, situated at the heart of the Indian capital New Delhi caters to the needs of policymakers.[5]

Training

The Institute provides training and refresher courses to senior government officers drawn from various branches of Indian Civil Service, i.e., the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Police Service, the Armed Forces and the Para-Military Forces.

International interactions

IDSA has international interactions through various means. The Institute holds international seminars and conferences, publishes journals, hosts to visiting scholars, and ties up with institutes from all over the world.

Government policy

The IDSA plays a role in shaping the Indian government's foreign and security policies. For example; the Indian Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence frequently calls on the Institute's experts.[6] Officers of the armed forces come to spend up to two years at the Institute to gain a policy perspective. The Institute's annual report is tabled in the Indian Parliament.[3]

Indian Minister of Defence Shri AK Antony informed the Indian parliament in 2012 that the IDSA appoints both civilian and military personnel to publish books, journal articles and reviews..[7]

Publications

The Institute's flagship journal Strategic Analysis is publiched bimonthly in collaboration with Taylor & Francis. It aims to promote an understanding of Indian strategic thinking on national and internaitonal themes.[8]

Other periodical publications include:

  • Journal of Defence Studies – a quarterly journal focusing on core issues of defence.
  • Africa Trends – a quarterly magazine on providing information on significant and strategic developments taking place in Africa.
  • CBW Magazine – a magazine focusing on arms control, disarmament, roles of state and non-state actors, regarding chemical and biological weapons.
  • Various policy briefs, issue briefs, occasional papers and newsletters.[9]

The members of the institute actively publish various books and monographs via regular publishing houses in India and overseas.

Ranking

The Global Go To Think Tank Index, prepared annually by the University of Pennsylvania Foreign Policy Research Institute, ranked IDSA 55th in the world in 2013,[10] 105th in 2016 and 41st in 2017.[11] This was the top position received by any Indian think tank in 2017.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 The Statesman's Yearbook: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World 2017, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016, p. 80, doi:10.1007/978-1-349-68398-7_149, ISBN 978-1-349-68398-7
  2. ↑ "About us". Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  3. 1 2 Prashant Jha, India's most influential think-tanks, Hindustan Times, 16 August 2015.
  4. ↑ 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, University of Pennsylvania, 31 January 2018.
  5. ↑ http://meafsi.gov.in/?2820?000
  6. ↑ "Associated Institutions, Ceremonial Honours and Awards, Official Language Division and Defence Co-operation with Foreign Countries". Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Research Project Reports of IDSA". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Strategic Analysis: Aims and Scope, Taylor & Francis, retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Publications, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, retrieved 2 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) has been ranked 55 th amongst the top think tanks worldwide (non US), in the 2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index published by The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the University of Pennsylvania, Times of India, 22 January 2014.
  11. 1 2 IDSA retains top position among Indian think tanks in the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Survey, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, 5 February 2018.
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