South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG) is a non-profit think tank based in India which conducts public interest and advocacy work. [1] [2] The group consists of Indian academics and former government officials. [1] The self-stated objectives of the group include advancing strategic analysis, promoting public understanding, and contributing to the expansion of knowledge of security internationally and with regard to India. The group further says it "seeks to address the decision makers, strategic planners, academics and the media in South Asia and the world at large." [3]
The scope of SAAG's work encompasses Afghanistan, [4] Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, [5] Iraq, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Fiji. [6]
SAAG's website hosts articles provided on political and strategic analysis. The site hosts notes, analysis, papers and updates on a broad range of aspects of Indian security issues and international relations. [7] It includes access to news updates from the regions of interest and a collection of discussion papers published since 1998 by authors from the South Asian continent. Key topics of the papers include: terrorism, international security, Indian politics and political parties, weapons of mass destruction and connection between radical Islam and terrorism. [6]
A few of the analysts are: [7]
Recurring guest columnists include
The Research and Analysis Wing is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and advancing India's foreign strategic interests. It is also involved in the security of India's nuclear programme.
The National Security Council (NSC) of India is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister's Office on matters of national security and strategic interest. It was established by the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 19 November 1998, with Brajesh Mishra as the first National Security Advisor. Prior to the formation of the NSC, these activities were overseen by the Principal Secretary to the preceding Prime Minister.
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Brajesh Chandra Mishra was an Indian diplomat from the Indian Foreign Service and politician, best known for serving as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's principal secretary and National Security Advisor from 1998 to 2004. He received Padma Vibhushan for his contribution
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Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist who is the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University and is also the Director of Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York City. He served as first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog between January 2015 and August 2017. He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2012 for his contributions in the field of economics and Public Policy. He is an authority on free trade and widely regarded as the foremost expert in the world on Indian economy.
Bahukutumbi Raman, also referred to as B. Raman, was an Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India and head of the counter-terrorism division of the Research and Analysis Wing. Until his death in 2013, he was the director of the Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. B. Raman was also a contributor to the South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG). As a former intelligence official, B. Raman regularly wrote about security, counter-terrorism and military issues regarding India and South Asia. He was considered one of India's foremost security experts.
Dr. W. Lawrence S. Prabhakar, M.A, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Strategic Studies and International Relations in the department of Political Science at Madras Christian College, India and Adjunct Research Fellow, S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
United Service Institution of India (USI) is a national security and defence services think tank based in New Delhi, India. It describes its aim as the "furtherance of interest and knowledge in the art, science and literature of the defence services".
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Vikram Sood is the former head of India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), and an advisor to the Observer Research Foundation, an independent public policy think tank in New Delhi. Sood was an officer of the Indian Postal Service (IPoS) before he joined the intelligence organisation R&AW and later served as its spymaster from 2000 to 2003. He retired as a career intelligence officer with 31 years of service on 31 March 2003.
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