Governance, leadership and the story of SAARC.

Making rigorous publishing and research infrastructure accessible across the Global South.

The South Asian Academic Research Council (SAARC) was founded in 2022 as an independent, multi-country academic body. It exists to close the gap between researchers — particularly those working in South Asia, the Indian Ocean states and the wider African continent — and the publishing, legal and technical infrastructure that academic work requires.

Today the Council runs journal publishing, a quarterly magazine, a press with regional imprints, conference proceedings, an annual conference programme running since 2022, IPR and legal advisory services, a digital research and software division, workshops, funded research initiatives and a daily news portal.

Governing Board & Secretariat

Mr. Parhlad Singh Ahluwalia

Director

Provides strategic direction and institutional leadership for the Council's publishing, research and conference programmes across all member regions.

Dr. Anjali Ramaswamy

Chairperson

Leads the Governing Board and sets the academic vision and quality standards of the Council.

Prof. David O. Whitfield

Vice Chairperson

Oversees international partnerships across the UK, USA, Canada and Australia chapters.

Dr. Meera Bhattarai

Secretary General

Coordinates the Secretariat, member-nation chapters and day-to-day governance.

Dr. Kenji Watanabe

Editor-in-Chief, Journals

Heads editorial policy and peer-review standards across the Council's journal portfolio.

Ms. Priya Nair

Editor, SAARC Magazine

Curates feature stories, interviews and academic culture coverage for the quarterly magazine.

Dr. Thabo N. Rakotomalala

Head, Press & Imprints

Manages the Council's publishing house and its regional imprints across Africa and the Indian Ocean states.

Dr. Le Wei Ling

Director, Conferences

Organises the Council's annual and regional conferences held since 2022.

Adv. Rohan Deshpande

Head, IPR & Legal Services

Leads intellectual property registration, licensing and legal advisory services for researchers and institutions.

Er. Sarah Fitzgerald

Head, Digital Research & Software

Builds the Council's research computing, datasets and open-source software initiatives.

Mr. Bimal Shrestha

Editor, News Portal

Runs day-to-day newsroom operations for the Council's academic news portal.

Dr. Kavitha Subramaniam

Chapter Head, India

Coordinates programmes and member institutions across India from the New Delhi secretariat.

Council milestones