Government considering Jayant Prasad's name for DG post in IDSA

NEW DELHI: The government is considering the name of Jayant Prasad, India's former Ambassador to Afghan istan and Nepal, for the post of director general of pre mier state-run think tank Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) which has been headless since August last year.
The defence ministry, which runs IDSA, has not been able to appoint a chief ever since former director general Arvind Gupta was appointed as the deputy National Security Adviser in August 2014. The defence ministry has given a serious consideration to Prasad's name and recommended it to the Prime Minister's Office, which will take the final call, officials said.

The process to select the head of IDSA in its 50th year of creation was launched last year, with several names from among former diplomats, IAS officers and military under consideration. "The process is taking longer than expected and a premier think tank cannot remain headless for several months.

This is the 50th year of establishment of IDSA and a state-backed institute cannot remain headless in this crucial year," a foreign policy and strategic affairs expert told ET.

ET had reported in March last year that the selection of DG was entering its last round of negotiations. The post of DG has rotated between the IFS and the 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. Prasad served at a crucial time in Afghanistan when the Indian embassy was often targeted by the Pakistan-backed Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

He later became Ambassador in Nepal, again at a critical time in the history of the Himalayan state.

Earlier he served as joint secretary (Americas) at the external affairs ministry and also in Indian missions in Paris, Geneva, Brussels and Algeria.