Think Tank challenging India’s national security playbook

By Rohan Dutta

Far from Delhi’s power corridors, in a modest office at Hyderabad’s Dr. MCR HRD Institute in Jubilee Hills, a bold experiment is quietly rewriting India’s national security playbook.

The Centre for Human Security Studies (CHSS), led by Ramesh Kanneganti, is bringing national security discussions to regions often left out of the conversation. Unlike Delhi’s top-down approach, this Hyderabad-based think tank champions a bottom-up model, arguing that true national security must begin with food, water, health and education, not just military strength.

“CHSS is the first think tank from South India to influence national security strategy, pushing to decentralise policymaking and bring regional perspectives into focus,” says Mr.Kanneganti.

With key defence, IT, biotech and industrial sectors, as well as cultural diversity, the city serves as a natural hub for security thought leadership. CHSS advocates conflict prevention through dialogue, education and opportunity. Its model addresses poverty, unemployment and exclusion that fuel unrest.