Dr. Tara Kartha

Dr. Tara Kartha is a distinguished national security expert who served in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India, under five successive National Security Advisors. At NSCS, she worked within the Joint Intelligence Committee, focusing on early warning of terrorist and other threats using multi-agency intelligence inputs, and later served in the Military Wing, contributing to policy formulation on defence procurement and strategic military affairs. She was actively involved in high-level strategic dialogues with key partner nations including the US, UK, and Russia. Her core role included producing time-sensitive analytical papers for the Prime Minister and senior ministers. Post-retirement, she was a Jennings Randolph Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, where she co-authored a policy paper on India-Pakistan relations with former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani. Dr. Kartha later served as Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), participating in Track-2 dialogues with Pakistan. Currently, she is the Director, Research and Academics, at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, continuing to contribute to India’s strategic thought and policy discourse. 

Email: kartha.tara@gmail.com