About Gyan Setu Think Tank

Gyan Setu Think Tank (GSTT) is a strategic research and policy-oriented institution registered under the Indian Societies Act. Conceived as a knowledge bridge, Gyan Setu seeks to connect academic inquiry with practitioner expertise in the domains of defence, national security, and strategic studies. The institution is founded on the conviction that effective policy thinking in security and strategic affairs must emerge from sustained interaction between rigorous scholarship and real-world operational experience.

GSTT is designed as a platform that enables structured engagement among scholars, students, domain experts, and defence professionals—both serving and retired. By facilitating this interaction, the think tank aims to contribute to informed discourse, evidence-based research, and policy-relevant analysis on issues that shape India’s security environment and its broader strategic posture.

A central objective of Gyan Setu is to strengthen India’s intellectual ecosystem in defence and security studies by fostering regionally grounded yet globally informed perspectives. The think tank consciously works to decentralize strategic discourse, encouraging the emergence of strong regional nodes of analysis that complement national-level policy conversations. In doing so, GSTT provides a credible space for experienced practitioners, particularly military veterans, to continue contributing meaningfully through research, mentorship, and public engagement.

The Society aims to build an innovative and inclusive platform that brings together faculty members, research scholars, and students on one side, and defence personnel and subject-matter experts on the other. Through this knowledge interface, Gyan Setu seeks to promote deeper understanding of complex security challenges and to support interdisciplinary research in areas such as international relations, defence strategy, military affairs, national and regional security, and contemporary warfare.

Gyan Setu is committed to advancing the study and research of military strategy, military history, operational art, defence technology, weapons of mass destruction, insurgency, terrorism, conflict management, and other dimensions of comprehensive national power. The think tank approaches these subjects through analytical, historical, and policy-oriented lenses, emphasizing conceptual clarity, empirical grounding, and strategic relevance.

To achieve its objectives, GSTT regularly organizes lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences, training courses, and structured dialogues involving scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. These activities are designed to stimulate critical thinking, encourage exchange of ideas, and build capacity among emerging researchers and professionals in the field of defence and security studies. In addition, Gyan Setu undertakes focused research projects on contemporary security issues, producing outputs such as policy briefs, analytical reports, and academic publications intended to inform both specialist and wider audiences.

Gyan Setu Think Tank is the brainchild of Lt. Gen. K.J. Singh, a former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command. Drawing on his extensive operational and leadership experience, Lt. Gen. Singh recognized the need for an institutional forum that could harness the rich reservoir of expertise within the veteran community and integrate it with academic research and policy analysis. His vision was to create a sustained mechanism for knowledge sharing that would enhance the quality and relevance of defence and security studies in the region and beyond.

Lt. Gen. K.J. Singh serves as the Convenor of Gyan Setu Think Tank. The governing body comprises a balanced mix of experienced academics, senior defence professionals, and subject-matter experts, ensuring that the institution’s work remains analytically rigorous, practically informed, and strategically grounded. Through this collective leadership, GSTT continues to position itself as an independent, credible, and forward-looking think tank dedicated to strengthening India’s strategic thought and security discourse.