Jayant Prasad was Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He was India's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria, Nepal, and the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. At headquarters, in the Ministry of External Affairs, he served as Special Secretary (Public Diplomacy), and Head of the Americas and the Multilateral Economic Relations Divisions. He was Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Geneva (1986-87), Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1998-99), member of U.N. Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2005-07), and Visiting Scholar, Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania (2014-15). Before his 37-year public service career, he was lecturer in history, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, after completing his studies at Modern School, St. Stephen’s College, and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Addresses / Remarks
- Welcome address at the Workshop of the McGill Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS), June 21, 2017
- Welcome remarks at the 19th Asian Security Conference on ‘Combating Terrorism: Evolving an Asian Response’, March 6, 2017
- Welcome remarks at the Special Address by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ‘Fifth Wave of Political Violence & Global Terrorism’, September 14, 2016
- Valedictory address at the Conference on ‘South-South Cooperation’, organised by the Research and Information System from Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, on May 11, 2016
- Panel discussion on ‘Integrating the Region and Bridging Differences’ at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), New York, on May 4, 2016
- Remarks at the Ministerial Session of Delhi Dialogue VIII: ASEAN-India Relations: A New Paradigm, February 16, 2016
- Address at the 18th Asian Security Conference on "Securing Cyberspace: Asian and International Perspectives", February 9-11, 2016
- Remarks at the 2nd West Asia Conference on Ideology, Politics and New Security Challenges in West Asia, January 19-20, 2016
- Remarks at the 9th South Asia Conference on Culture as a Factor in Regional Cooperation in South Asia, November 26-27, 2015
- Remarks at the 3rd Annual Internal Security National Seminar on Radicalisation: A Growing Security Challenge for India, December 09, 2015
India and Israel: The Making of a Strategic Partnership
India’s broad-spectrum relationship with Israel transformed into a strategic partnership in 2017, a quarter century after the establishment of full diplomatic ties. India and Israel have successfully steered the relationship forward, despite the baggage of fraught and convulsive neighbourhoods. The contributors to this volume include policy makers and military leaders who played an important role in the growth of the relationship, as well as academics who have closely followed its growth, shedding important light on the transformation of the India-Israel bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership over the course of past tumultuous 25 years. Chapters highlight Israel’s increasing engagement with India’s diverse federal polity, the de-hyphenation of the India-Israel ties from India’s relationship with Palestine, as well as the role played by US non-state (pro-Israel US-based interest groups) and sub-state (US Congressmen) actors in shaping India-Israel ties. The concluding chapter examines Israel’s relationship with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), given that both the PRC and India established diplomatic ties with Israel almost simultaneously.
India and Israel will be of great interest to scholars of strategic studies, international relations, Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies, as well as those working in diplomacy, government and the military. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Strategic Analysis.
India-China Relations: 1947–2000 – A Documentary Study (5 Volumes)
Generations of scholars and analysts working on India-China issues will be grateful to Mr. Avtar Singh Bhasin for the extraordinary service he has done to them by bringing into the public domain, in five volumes, important texts on the subject—over 2,500 of them—including many that are still not declassified by the Ministry of External Affairs and transferred for public access to the National Archives of India. He was able to do so because he got ready access to material classified as ‘secret’ or ‘top secret’ in the papers lying with the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
The Kargil War and India’s Security Environment
The Kargil conflict presented an opportunity for a relook at India’s national security environment in terms of defence preparedness. The Kargil Review Committee report pointed to the deficiencies in India’s security management system and gave a call for course correction especially in terms of integration of the armed forces, defence modernisation, and optimum defence budgeting and expenditure.
A life in diplomacy
This is a candid, stimulating, and highly readable account of Ambassador Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra’s diplomatic life, and through it, also of the evolution of Indian foreign policy since 1947. The bonus for the reader is to have a balanced reflection on India’s diplomacy, peppered with pertinent narratives and observations about important events and personalities.
Zalmay Khalilzad, The envoy: from Kabul to the White House, my journey through a turbulent world
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has provided a most readable account of his upbringing, his stint in the US National Security Council and his ambassadorships to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations. With his political sense and candour, he explains to readers how after winning easy military victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, American efforts there so quickly lost direction and became examples of how not to intervene in difficult areas. Having ready access to high-ranking US administration officials, Ambassador Khalilzad was luckier than his American homologues serving in foreign capitals.
Kautilya’s Arthashastra: an intellectual portrait: the classical roots of modern politics in India
The generalist reader, as also those interested in indigenous historical knowledge, owes a debt of gratitude to Professor Subrata K. Mitra and Dr. Michael Liebig for bringing out this remarkable study. This is especially so since the IDSA has been investing for several years now in studying indigenous historical knowledge and its links to modern Indian political thought. Professor Mitra and Dr.
India’s Deterrence and Disarmament: The Impact of Pokhran-II
After the nuclear weapons tests of May 11, 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a matter-of-fact statement:
Asian Strategic Review 2017: Energy Security in Times of Uncertainty
The world is entering an era with increased global demand for energy, price volatility, and rising concerns about environmental burdens and the global impact of climate change. Directly or indirectly, these factors have given rise to related concerns such as deregulation and geopolitical uncertainties. Moreover, the challenges related to the energy issue go beyond scientific or technological aspects and extend to access to resources, regional conflicts, pricing and energy infrastructure management.
Editors’ Introduction
India’s burgeoning relationship with Israel since January 1992 is an exemplar of India’s post-Cold War foreign policy practice. From a relationship described as ‘stillborn for 40 years’ to the broad-spectrum partnership a quarter century later, India–Israel relations ties have developed well, pushed by a rapid expansion of defence ties. The growth of the India–Israel partnership is a testimony to the sagacity shown by Indian and Israeli leaders in steering the relationship forward, despite the baggage of a fraught and convulsive neighbourhood.
All at the South China Sea
Director General, IDSA, Shri Jayant Prasad’s commentary on South China Sea, titled ‘All at the South China Sea’ was published in the Op-Ed section of ‘The Hindu’ on August 1. 2016.