The three main activities of the IPCS, as they have developed over the years, have been the maintenance of an interactive website, holding meetings of its Friday Discussion Group and bringing out publications.

WEBSITE

The IPCS website (www.ipcs.org) was inaugurated in August 1997 to coincide with the celebrations to commemorate the 50^th year of India's independence. Devoted primarily to South Asian security issues, the website receives approximately 80,000 hits each week. Despite being in its nascent stage, the website has gained the reputation of being one of the most comprehensive and reliable sources of information pertaining to South Asian security issues. Within this short span of time, the website has attracted a dedicated clientele of netizens comprising strategists, academicians, policy-makers, defence personnel, scholars and researchers into defence and security.

The IPCS website was the first interactive website in India devoted to South Asian security issues. Among its many laurels is the recognition conferred on it by the Encyclopedia Britannica as being one of the 'best sites on Internet for quality, accuracy of content, presentation and usability.'

Apart from news reports, the website carries informed comments on current security issues, summaries of seminar proceedings conducted under the aegis of IPCS, and a database. The website also boasts of an impressive archive, which has been consolidated on a monthly basis since August 1998, and has proved especially useful to researchers and academics.

FRIDAY DISCUSSION GROUP

What started as brain storming sessions amongst a small group of eminent security analysts and practitioners has, with the passage of time, grown into a body of sixty-odd scholars, media persons and former officials belonging to the civil and military services, to join what is popularly called the Friday Discussion Group (as it is generally held on Fridays). Serving officials, who are invited to flag issues of topical interest, join the Group on a routine basis. In view of the experience and eminence of the members of the Group, the Institute has sometimes been requested to set up background briefings for serving officials, especially from the armed forces. The reports of these seminars are usually posted on the website.

Apart from the Friday Discussion Group sessions, the Institute has hosted a number of national and international conferences over the years on important themes like Human Security, Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia, Energy Security, and Refugees to name a few, bringing together experts from various parts of the region to discuss and deliberate upon these topics threadbare and arrive at policy-relevant conclusions. The conference papers and proceedings are later published as books.

PUBLICATIONS

The IPCS website, www.ipcs.org, is the major vehicle for the Institute's publications. However, the Institute brings out a variety of publications to suit the varied research needs of the strategic and academic community.

The following publications have been brought out by the IPCS in the last four years.

• PR Chari, Suba Chandran and Mallika Joseph (Ed), Missing Boundaries: Refugess, Migrants, Stateless and Internally Displaced Persons in South Asia (Manohar Publishers, 2003)

• Assocham and IPCS, India's Energy Concerns (Assocham, 2003)

• PR Chari, Arpit Rajain and Sonika Gupta (Ed), Nuclear Stability in Southern Asia (Manohar Publishers, 2003))

• PR Chari, Stephen P Cohen, Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compund Crisis of 1990 (Routledge Publishers, 2003)

• PR Chari and Sonika Gupta (Ed) Human Security in South Asia: Energy, Gender, Migration and Globalisation (Social Science Press, 2003)

• PR Chari and Arpit Rajain (Ed.) Biological Weapons: Issues and Threats (New Delhi: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 2002)

• PR Chari and Arpit Rajain (Ed.) Working Towards a Verification Protocol for Biological Weapons (New Delhi: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 2001)

• PR Chari (Ed.) Security and Governance in South Asia (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2001)

• PR Chari and Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema The Simla Agreement, 1972: Its Wasted Promise (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2001)

• PR Chari and Maj. Gen. (retd.) Ashok Krishna Kargil: The Tables Turned (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2001)

• Suba Chandran and Mallika Joseph A. Lethal Fields: Landmines & IEDs in South Asia (published by the authors, 2001)

• PR Chari (Ed.) Perspectives on National Security in South Asia: In Search of a New Paradigm (New Delhi: Manohar Publication, 1999)

• Maj. Gen. (retd.) Dipankar Banerjee (Ed.) Security in South Asia (New Delhi: Manas Publications, 1999)

• Maj. Gen. (retd.) Dipankar Banerjee and Mallika Joseph A. Anti-Personnel Landmines: A South Asian Regional Survey (published by authors, 1999)

• PR Chari (Ed.) India: Towards Millennium (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1998)

Publications in Process: The following publications are expected to be released in end-2004 and 2005.

• Dipankar Banerjee (Ed), Emerging Global Developments and Counter Terrorism, (Konrad Adenauer Foundation)

• Dipankar Banerjee (Ed), Rethinking Security: UN and the New Threats (Indian Research Press)

• PR Chari and Suba Chandran (Ed) Bio Terrorism and Bio Defence (Manohar Publishers)

Peace & Conflict

The Institute publishes and distributes a bulletin Peace & Conflict containing select documents, opinion articles and seminar reports from the website for circulation to opinion makers in India and abroad on a restricted basis. The bulletin is currently in its fifth volume.

The Institute publishes and distributes on a restricted basis an edited volume titled the IPCS Topical Series, containing articles, seminar reports and documents pertaining to pertinent research areas. Till date, IPCS has published three Topical Series:

• IPCS Topical Series 1: Indo-Pak Relations: The Agra Summit and After

• IPCS Topical Series 2: Kashmir: The Road Ahead

• IPCS Topical Series 3: Terrorism Post 9/11: An Indian Perspective

Future issues would be published and distributed by Ms Manohar Publishers.

In addition, IPCS has launched a new series of Policy Brief and Issue Brief, aimed at providing useful insights and recommendations to policy makers and analysts on significant issues. The following Policy/Issue Briefs have been published:

• Issue Brief No 27:Agitations in Manipur: The Trade Off Between Security and Freedom

• Issue Brief No 26:The Crisis in Nepal

• Issue Brief No 25:Naga Peace Talks: Can Delhi Convert The Truce Into A Deal?

• Issue Brief No 24:Nuclear CBMs Between India and Pakistan

• Issue Brief No 23:War in Waziristan: Implications for Pakistan and India

• Issue Brief No 22:Nuclear CBMs: What Is Possible?

• Issue Brief No 21:The 10th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

• Issue Brief No 20:The Crisis in Nepal: Implications for India

• Issue Brief No 19:T-90S 'Bhishma'

• Issue Brief No 18:Bhutan’s “Operation All Clear”: Implications for insurgency and security cooperation

• Issue Brief No 17:Military Operations in South Waziristan: Issues and Implications

• Issue Brief No 15:Constitutional Crisis and the Peace Process in Sri Lanka

• Issue Brief No 14:Madrassas in India

• Issue Brief No 13:New Indian Initiatives in Kashmir

• Issue Brief No 12:Deadlock at Cancun: A New Beginning

• Issue Brief No 11: Madrassas in Pakistan

• Issue Brief 10: Redefining the Non-proliferation Norm

• Issue Brief 9: Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

• Issue Brief 8: Precision Guided Munitions and Reduced Collateral Damage

• Issue Brief 7: Preemptive Strike: Will it Secure Indian Interests?

• Issue Brief 6: War on Iraq: Implications for Pakistan

• Issue Brief 5: Nuclear Command Authority/Strategic Forces Command

• Issue Brief 4: Peace Process in Sri Lanka

• Issue Brief 3: Impending Elections in Pakistan

• Issue Brief 2: The North Korean Bomb

• Issue Brief 1: The 16^th Party Congress in China

• Policy Brief 1: Elections in Jammu and Kashmir

PROJECTS

IPCS undertakes projects on security issues, funded by philanthropic organizations dedicated to the study of peace and security like the Ford Foundation, Rockfeller Foundation, Alton Jones Foundation, Ploughshares Foundation, Japan Foundation, Konrad Adenaeur Foundation and UN Foundation to name a few.