To contribute, through its academic program, to the process of building a community of South Asia knowledgeable on issues of traditional and non-traditional/human security and transnational security, with a common appreciation of the threats to security in South Asia and to enhance their effective participation in various policy/governance processes.

To assist the evolution and consolidation of stable, secure and accountable governments through the building of capacity across various sectors;
To develop a comprehensive approach to human security in which local ownership is central;
To periodically produce accurate and timely annotated analysis of the security and human right situation in the South Asian region, which will be useful to various actors working to deepen democracy and prevent conflict in the region and beyond;
To assist the defense and security sector review process globally with a particular focus on South Asian countries on the basis of national consensus developed from the bottom up;
To encourage a dialogue between South Asian civil society, governments, and the security forces on security sector reform and conflict prevention;
To encourage the interest of younger scholars in human security and prepare them for careers in various fields of policy/governance;
To work with regional institutions on security sector transformation and rights based development and encourage them to see the relevance of capacity building for their work;
To work towards peace building and peace consolidation in the region as well as globally;