PMO suggests new chief of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses should be from academia

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office has suggested to the defence ministry that it should look beyond bureaucracy for choosing the new chief of the state-run premier think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), people familiar with the matter said.

The next director general of IDSA could be from the field of academia, they said.

Earlier it was anticipated that Jayant Prasad, India's former Ambassador to Afghanistan and Nepal, could be appointed as the new chief. IDSA has been headless since August last year when its then chief Arvind Gupta was appointed as deputy national security adviser.

The defence ministry, which runs IDSA, had shortlisted a few names, of which Prasad's was said to be at the top. It was anticipated that the appointment could be made in the near future after the Appointments Committee of Cabinet considered the list.

However, the PMO, after considering the names, suggested that the list be reconstituted and the choice be made beyond the bureaucracy.

The appointments of heads of other think tanks and institutions were, however, made at a quick pace.

The process to select the head of IDSA in its 50th year of creation was launched last year.

The post of DG, IDSA has rotated between IFS and IAS officers in the past few years. Gupta, an IFS officer of 1979 batch, was preceded by N Sisodia, an IAS officer.

Two IFS officers who were shortlisted for the post were former ambassadors Jayant Prasad and Rakesh Sood, officials said. Earlier Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Virendra Gupta also made an attempt to enter the race, they said.

Lt General Ata Hasnain, who retired as the military secretary at Army headquarters and had earlier commanded an Army Corps in Jammu and Kashmir, was also in contention for the post, officials said.