K Santhanam is presently President of The India-Central Asia Foundation (ICAF). He was Director General, Institute for Defence Studies Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi till July 31 2004 and earlier was Chief Adviser (Technology) in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He has worked for about 43 years in the area of science, technology and security and contributed to the evolution of India’s positions on disarmament and arms control. He has served as India member in the Inter-Governmental Committee of Experts set up by the UN Secretary General (1978-80) on verification of arms control treaties, has been Scientific Adviser in the Ministry of External affairs (1984-86) and a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan award in recognition of his contributions to the Shakti-98 series of nuclear tests conducted in May 1998. He was the editor, Strategic Analysis (New Delhi). His recent published works include co-authorship of Jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir: A Portrait Gallery (Sage Publications, New Delhi 2003); Iraq War 2003: Rise of the New ‘Unilateralism’ (Ane Books, New Delhi 2003) ; Asian Security and China 2000-2010 (Shipra Publications, New Delhi 2004) and India And Central Asia: Advancing the Common Interest (IDSA and Anamaya Publishers, New Delhi, 2004), India And Kazakhstan Relations: Enhancing the Partnership (KazISS, Almaty and Anamaya Publishers, New Delhi, 2006) and India-Tajikistan Cooperation: Perspectives and Prospects (ICAF & Anamaya Publishers, New Delhi, 2007).