Our People

Ambassador Sood joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976, serving in Brussels, Dakar, Geneva, and Islamabad in different capacities, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC. At the Foreign Ministry, he set up the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division and led it for eight years. He has served as India’s first Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and later as Ambassador to Afghanistan, Nepal and France. After retiring in 2013, Ambassador Sood was Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament and Non – Proliferation till May 2014. Ambassador Sood has been a principal participant at The Chao Track II Dialogues.

Ambassador Rao was India’s Foreign Secretary from 2009 – 2011. She has also served as the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, High Commissioner of India in Sri-Lanka, Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and Ambassador to the United States. Post-retirement, Ambassador Rao was a fellow and taught at Brown University from 2015 – 16. She was George Ball Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University (Fall 2018) and Pacific Leadership Fellow at UC San Diego (2019). Ambassador Rao is a Global Fellow of The Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, Councilor at the World Refugee Council, Member of the Board of Governors of IIM, Bangalore and ICRIER, New Delhi. She is the founder trustee of The South Asian Symphony Foundation and established the South Asian Symphony Orchestra.

Ambassador Singh joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 and has been India’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Besides serving in different capacities in Indian Missions in Cairo, New York, and Ankara, he has held several senior positions at the headquarters including that of Additional Secretary (International Organisations), Co-ordinator for Counter-terrorism (MEA) and Spokesperson (MEA). Ambassador Singh retired in 2008 and has been one of the leading participants in The Chao Track II Regional Dialogues. He regularly writes columns and commentaries for leading national newspapers.

Dr. Jones is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa. He holds a Ph.D. in War Studies from Kings College, London and an MA in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. He has served as a senior analyst for the Security and Intelligence Secretariat of the Privy Council of Canada. Prior to joining University of Ottawa, he has held various positions related to international affairs and security at the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of Defence. An expert on track-two diplomacy, Dr. Jones is presently leading several Track Two initiatives in South Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of Track Two Diplomacy: In Theory and Practice (Stanford University Press).

Amb. Meera Shankar was India’s first woman Ambassador to Germany. She also served as India’s Ambassador to the USA. As Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, she headed the Division dealing with International Organisations and Security issues. She negotiated and signed the agreement with Pakistan on Pre Notification Of Ballistic Missile Flight Tests. She has long experience of dealing with India’s neighbours, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and SAARC and of economic diplomacy. As Director she worked in the Prime Minister’s office for six years under four Prime Ministers. She has also headed the Indian Council of Cultural Relations as its Director General. Amb. Shankar is a regular participant at The Chao Track activities.

Mr. Guruswamy is the Chairman & Founder of Centre for Policy Alternatives, Delhi. He has been a former advisor to the Finance Minister, Government of India. Mr. Guruswamy also Chairs the Economic Connectivity Vertical of The Chao Track. He is a frequent commentator on national TV and regularly writes for several leading Indian Newspapers. Mr. Guruswamy has also been a member of the Ottawa Track II Dialogues on Nuclear CBMs between India and Pakistan; and the USI’s task force on Comprehensive National Power. He is the author of several books and monographs including Chasing the Dragon: Will India Catch Up with China; India, Issues in Development; and India China Relations: The Border Issue and Beyond.

Mr. Azad retired as the Secretary Security (Cabinet Secretariat) with the Government of India. Before this he was positioned as the Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau. He began his career as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer with the Madhya Pradesh Cadre in 1976. Over his career he distinguished himself through his exceptional administrative capacities and his penchant for reaching out to various stakeholders in trade associations, cultural institutions, and sports bodies and for garnering public support for district policing and related matters, he is reckoned as the hands-on expert of the highest level in matters of national security and its apparatus. He has been awarded with the two most coveted medals by the President of India: the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Services (1994) and the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Services (2002) in recognition of his exemplary services.

Mr. Mathur joined the Indian Police Service in 1977 and was posted in Manipur before being deputed to the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) in 1981. During his long stint with R&AW, Mr. Mathur was directly involved in monitoring developments relating to India’s security concerns in the neighbourhood and headed the Pakistan – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal desks at different junctures in his career. He retired in 2014 as Special Secretary and Head of the Department of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), Government of India. In September 2015, Mr. Mathur was appointed Adviser to the Ministry of Home Affairs and worked on Tibetan affairs, Perception Management and Media Strategies in conflict affected areas, and counter radicalization programs.

Col. Shukla writes for the Business Standard on defense and strategic affairs, international relations and the defense economy. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and other international publications. He has also worked with NDTV from 2001 – 2008 as a prime – time news anchor and war correspondent. He reported extensively on Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and on the insurgencies in India’s North - East and Jammu & Kashmir. From 1979-2001, Col. Shukla was an Indian Army tank corps officer. He retired as a colonel after commanding an armoured regiment. He served across a range of geographies, including three counter-insurgency operational tenures in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur. He spent a year in 1993-94 with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mozambique. He has been associated with the activities of The Chao Track and has been a primary participant in its Strategic Dialogues.

Mr. Jack Gill is a Professor at the National Defense University and an Associate Professor at the Near East-South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington DC. He is a former U.S. Army South Asia foreign area officer and retired as a colonel in 2005. Mr. Gill worked on South Asia at the Pentagon between 1998 – 2001. From August 2003 – January 2004, Mr. Gill served in Islamabad as the liaison officer to the Pakistan Army for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He has been following the developments in South Asia from an intelligence and policy perspective since the mid-1980s and has published various articles/book chapters. Mr. Gill is an internationally recognized military historian and has authored several books and papers on the Napoleonic era.

Dr. Dalton is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He works primarily on regional security in East and South Asia and the evolution of the global nuclear order. He is the co-author (with George Perkovich) of Not War, Not Peace? Motivating Pakistan to Prevent Cross-Border Terrorism (Oxford University Press, 2016). Before joining Carnegie, Dr. Dalton served in policy advisory positions at the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, including a posting at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was a Luce Scholar in Seoul, South Korea, and a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from the George Washington University.

Dr. Lalwani is a Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center where he works on nuclear deterrence, interstate rivalry, national security decision making, crisis behavior, and counter-insurgency. He is also a term member with the Council on Foreign Relations, a contributing editor to War on the Rocks, and a non-resident fellow with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University (GWU). Dr. Lalwani was Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and was previously a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at the RAND Corporation. He has published in leading international journals and newspapers. Dr. Lalwani completed his Ph.D. from MIT’s Department of Political Science, where he was an affiliate of its Security Studies Program.

Mr. Tewari is a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) representing the Anantpur Sahib constituency. He is a former Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. Mr. Tewari is the National Spokesperson and General Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Indian National Congress (INC). Mr. Tewari has been associated with The Chao Track since last many years and acts as the Chair for the Track II dialogue. He has been a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committees of External Affairs, Law & Justice and Defence and has served on the Parliamentary Consultative Committees of the Ministries of Defence and Law & Justice.

Dr. Paliwal is Associate Professor in International Relations at SOAS University of London and Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute. He specializes in India's foreign and security policy in its Neighbourhood, and is the author of My Enemy's Enemy: India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017). He is currently writing a strategic history of India's near east since Independence.

Vice Admiral Sinha is a former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and was member of Defence Acquisition Council between 2010 to 2012. During his tenure, the Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan was compiled and approved by the Government. He is a naval aviator of fighter stream and has flown over 2700 hrs. He steered aviation acquisition as the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. Later he held command of the potent Western Fleet. He retired in 2014 as the Commander in Chief of the Western Naval Command based at Mumbai with additional responsibility of Commander in Chief Coastal Security, Western Seaboard.

Vice Admiral Shankar (PVSM, AVSM), holds an MSc in Defence Studies and is a graduate of the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, USA. He is the former Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Forces Command and Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. His Command and operational experience are comprehensive and include Command of INS Viraat the aircraft carrier, active service during the 1971 war, Operation Pawan (the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka) and Operation Vijay, to vacate the Kargil intrusion. The Admiral retired in 2009, after nearly 45 years in uniform.

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla joined the National Defence Academy in Jan 1978. Commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1982, he specialised in Navigation and Direction in 1988 and subsequently navigated two of the Navy’s frontline frigates. His five sea commands include Coast Guard Ship C-01 in 1986-87, INS Vinash (which he commissioned) from 1992-94, INS Kora from 2001- 02, INS Tabar from 2006-07 and INS Viraat from 2008 to 2010. His ashore and staff appointments include a stint as an instructor at the National Defence Academy (1989-90), Dy Director of the Navy’s Centre for Leadership and Behavioural Studies (1997-98), Defence Attaché in the Embassy of India, Jakarta (1998-2001), Senior Instructor (Navy) and HOTT (Navy) at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington (2002-04) and Naval Assistant to CNS (2004-2006). He was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in Aug 2010 and was appointed as the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation & Intelligence) followed by Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy and Plans) at Naval Headquarters. As ACNS (P&P), he was responsible for the formulation of Maritime Capability Perspective Plan 2012-27, the first Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan, the plan for the ‘Re-organisation of the Navy’, promulgation of the Weapon and Sensor Procurement (WASP) Guidelines for the Navy and envisaging the process for ‘IN-DRDO Synergy’, which has now been institutionalised. He commanded the Western Fleet from Aug 2013 to Oct 2014 and oversaw the integration of Vikramaditya into the IN’s concept of operations. On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral he took over as the Director General Naval Operations on 31 Dec 2014. He took over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command, Kochi on 31 Jul 18. He has participated in Op Pawan in Sri Lanka in 1989 while on board INS Arnala and was commended for gallantry by FOC-in-C East. He was awarded the Nausena Medal in 2003 while in command of INS Kora during Operation Parakram. Vice Admiral Chawla was conferred the VishishtSeva Medal on 26 Jan 13 and the AtiVishishtSeva Medal on 26 Jan 2015 for distinguished service. He was conferred with the honorary title of Aide-De-Camp to President of India in 01 Dec 2019. He was awarded the ParamVishishtSeva Medal for distinguished service of the highest order on 26 Jan 2020.

Prof. Lama, a development economist, is a senior Professor in the School of International Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is presently Chief Economic Adviser designate in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Sikkim. He served as the Founding Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Sikkim; Member, National Security Advisory Board, Government of India; Chief Economic Adviser in the Government of Sikkim with a Cabinet Minister Rank (2002-2007) and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. Acclaimed as the Architect of the reopening of the historic Nathu-la trade route between Sikkim in India and Tibet Autonomous Region in China after 44 years in 2006, he has served as a member of the High Level National Committee to examine the Sixth Schedule Areas in the NorthEast Region (2007); Member of the Prime Ministers’ Task Force on Hill and Mountain Development. He has been associated as a professional with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, UNESCAP, USAID, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Australian Aid Agency, IDRC of Canada and ICIMOD in Kathmandu. Prof. Lama is a regular contributor to The Chao Track’s activities and publications.

A former naval officer, Abhijit Singh, Senior Fellow, heads the Maritime Policy Initiative at ORF. A maritime professional with specialist and command experience in front-line Indian naval ships, he has been involved in the writing of India's maritime strategy (2007). He is a keen commentator on maritime matters and has written extensively on security and governance issues in the Indian Ocean and Pacific littorals. His articles and commentaries have been published in the Asian Bureau for Asian Research (NBR), the Lowy Interpreter, the World Politics Review, the Diplomat and CSIS Pacific Forum. Editor of two books on maritime security — Indian Ocean Challenges: A Quest for Cooperative Solutions (2013) and Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific (2014), Abhijit has published papers on India’s growing maritime reach, security of sea-lines of communication in the Indo-Pacific region, Indian Ocean governance issues and maritime infrastructure in the Asian littorals.

Col. Shukla writes for the Business Standard on defense and strategic affairs, international relations and the defense economy. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and other international publications. He has also worked with NDTV from 2001 – 2008 as a prime – time news anchor and war correspondent. He reported extensively on Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and on the insurgencies in India’s North - East and Jammu & Kashmir. Ajai served as a combat soldier in the Indian Army for almost two decades (1979 - 2001) before retiring as a colonel. Ajai graduated from the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Col. Shukla has been associated with the activities of The Chao Track and has been a primary participant in its Strategic Dialogues.

Prof Gulshan Sachdeva is Jean Monnet Chair; Coordinator, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for EU Studies in India; and Professor, Centre for European Studies School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is also Editor-in-Chief, International Studies (Sage). As a regional cooperation specialist, he headed the ADB and the Asia Foundation projects at the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul (2006-2010). He is also a consultant with the ILO. His research is focused on the EU, Asian integration, Afghanistan, development cooperation and energy security. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. He is a regular contributor at CSDR’s The Chao Track Economic Connectivity activities and publications.

Dr. Joseph is an Associate Professor at Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), Delhi. He has a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, MPhil degree in Applied Economics from Centre for Development Studies, Kerala and Master’s degree in International Relations and Politics from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. Before joining ISID, he served as faculty at Central University of Gujarat (CUG), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). He specialises on International Political Economy and has written several papers on trade policy making, WTO TRIPS Agreement and public health, patents and innovation, international investment agreements and a book on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. Currently, his research is focused on the implications of FDI in research and development (R&D) on national innovation capability (with special reference to India).

Ms Powell works on policy issues in energy and the environment primarily in the Indian context. Her current interests include energy access, carbon constraints on energy use, clean coal & natural gas for energy and environmental security. She is currently with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. Earlier she has worked for Norsk Hydro and for Orkla, two of Norway’s largest conglomerates whose interests include energy. Ms. Powell has three Post Graduate Degrees - two on Energy Management from Norway and one in Solid State Physics from India. She is a regular participant at The Chao Track India’s Economic Connectivity Dialogue.

Afaq Hussain is Director and Founding Member of the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF), a New Delhi based trade and policy think-tank. He has over 15 years of experience of working on International Trade policy and logistics sector. He is an expert on tariff/non-tariff measures/barriers, value chain analysis, infrastructure gaps at ports, and appraisal of infrastructure & policy reforms at sea and land ports in India. His focus areas over the last few years have been aspects of regional integration particularly trade and cooperation in South Asia with a special focus on India-Pakistan. His work on Cross LoC engagements focuses on strengthening the mechanisms of LoC trade and enhancing the connectivity between the communities across LoC. He is a regular participant at The Chao Track India’s Economic Connectivity Dialogue.

Dr. Rahman holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, Assam. His areas of interests include research on Northeast India, mainly on issues relating to transboundary water sharing and hydropower dams, roads and connectivity infrastructures, conflict and insurgency, peace building, development politics, migration and cross border exchanges. His research specialization is on border studies in Northeast India and transboundary water sharing and management issues between China, India and Bangladesh. He is committed to grassroots based alternative community work and development models. He has travelled extensively in parts of Northeast India for research work. He has led research teams in Northeast India, and has travelled parts in China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar for research.

Dr. Sana Hashmi is Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University. She is a former Consultant in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, where she worked on the ASEAN region and the Indo-Pacific with a special reference to China from 2016-19. Her primary research focuses on China’s foreign policy, Taiwan’s foreign relations, India-Taiwan relations, China’s territorial disputes, and Asian security. Before MEA, she worked with the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), an autonomous think- tank under the Indian Air Force (IAF), from 2011-2016. She has also worked at South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). She holds MPhil and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has published several book chapters, articles in journals, magazines, web portals and newspaper articles. She is the author of the book, China’s Approach towards Territorial Disputes: Lessons and Prospects (New Delhi: Knowledge World, 2016). She can be reached at sanahashmi2@gmail.com .

Debak Das is a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University. His research lies at the intersection of International Relations, nuclear strategy, diplomacy, statecraft, and international history. His current book project explores how states build their nuclear forces. This research has been supported by the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, the MacArthur Foundation, the Wilson Center, Cornell University’s Graduate School, the Cornell Institute for European Studies, and the Chateaubriand Fellowship in Humanities and Social Sciences. Debak received his PhD from the Department of Government at Cornell University.

Col Rajneesh Singh is a former infantry officer with wide-ranging command, staff, and instructional experience. He has vast combat experience, a result of multiple deployments in a counter-insurgency environment. Rajneesh has an understanding of the functioning of India’s security establishment at the strategic level, having served more than once in the Army HQ. He has also served as a Military Observer in the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rajneesh has a doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has been a Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses. His multiple tenures as an instructor at some of the most prestigious training establishments of India’s Armed Forces has equipped him well for academic and research activities, post his active-duty soldiering. He has been a prolific writer and has authored monographs and research papers in some of the leading think tanks of the country. Col Rajneesh Singh (Retd.) is presently serving as a Consultant with the Ministry of Defence.        

Ritesh Kumar is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the K.M. Institute of Hindi and Linguistics, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra, India. He also coordinates the M.Sc. program in Computational Linguistics at the University's Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies. His research interests lie broadly at the intersection of pragmatics, sociolinguistics and computational linguistics. For the past several years, he has been working on the theoretical and computational modelling of politeness, impoliteness and aggression in language. His research in this field has been supported and funded by organisations like UKIERI, Microsoft Research and Facebook Research and has led to the development of tools and corpora for automatic detection of aggression and offensive content in languages like Hindi, Bangla and Meitei. At the same time, he is deeply involved with the issues of language endangerment, documentation, revitalization and technology and resource development for minoritised and endangered languages in India. He has been working on the development of language resources and technologies (such as ASR systems, POS taggers, language models, etc) for various minoritised and endangered languages (such as Awadhi, Beda, Braj Bhasha, Magahi, Toto, Chokri, among others) and also worked towards the development of software tools and infrastructure for supporting this kind of research. His research in this field has been generously funded by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Karya Inc., Panlingua and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. For more information about his research and contact details, you could visit his website here - https://sites.google.com/view/ctrans-dbrau/research/clresearch 

Dr Happymon Jacob is Associate Professor of Diplomacy and Disarmament at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Prior to joining JNU in 2008, he held teaching positions at the University of Jammu in J&K and Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi; and research positions at the Centre for Air Power Studies, Delhi Policy Group, and Observer Research Foundation.  Dr Jacob is an elected member of the Pugwash Council since 2013. He is the author of Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and India-Pakistan Escalation Dynamics (Oxford University Press, 2019), and Line of Control: Traveling with the Indian and Pakistani Armies (Penguin Viking 2018). His concurrent engagements with the Indian media include a column with The Hindu and hosting of weekly video show on national security on The Wire.In. Email - happymon@csdronline.org Follow him @HappymonJacob

Lt. Gen. Hooda was commissioned into the 4th Battalion of the 4th Gorkha Rifles in 1976 and initially served in Nagaland during the peak of insurgency. As a Major General, he was responsible for counter-insurgency operations in Manipur and South Assam. From 2012 to 2016, Lt. Gen. Hooda was stationed in Jammu and Kashmir and retired as the Army Commander of Northern Command in 2016. During this time, he handled numerous strategic challenges that emerged on the borders with Pakistan and China. Lt. Gen. Hooda has been awarded the Vasishta Seva Medal (twice), the Ati Vasishta Seva Medal, the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for his exemplary military service. In 2019 Lt. Gen. Hooda authored a comprehensive National Security Strategy document. He is one of India’s foremost commentators on India’s national security. Contact: dhooda@csdronline.org

Gaurav finished his PhD from the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His research interests include Indian foreign policy, strategic culture and conflict resolution. He manages ‘The Chao Track’ - India, ‘National Security Conversations with Happymon Jacob’ and leads product design and partnerships at CSDR. Contact: gauravsaini@csdronline.org

Dr. Khillare holds a Doctorate from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She leads the Economic Connectivity Vertical of The Chao Track II Dialogue. Dr. Khillare heads the Centre for Environment and Climate Security at CSDR. Her doctoral research developed insights into the politics of negotiating women’s bodily integrity at the United Nations. Her research interests include international and regional development, climate change politics, peace and conflict, gender and security, and UN politics. She has previously worked with the UN Women (New Delhi) in the Women, Peace and Security Unit. Dr. Khillare has presented extensively on UN politics, women's rights and feminist theory in several international conferences and is a published author on Gender and Security. Contact: tishyakhillare@csdronline.org

Portia was a Strategic Analyst with the National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India and the Policy, Planning and Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. She was a ‘Kodikara Fellow’ in 2019 with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka. Her areas of specialization include India-Pakistan relations, strategic culture and peacebuilding.

Bashir is a graduate of Christ University, Bangalore and is a researcher in international law and international relations. His geographical area of interest is the West Asia and North African region, with a special focus on Iran, Iraq and Syria. Under international law, he focuses on the laws of armed conflicts, sea and diplomacy. Besides this, he conducts research on regional armed conflicts, functioning of the United Nations, and international courts and tribunals. At CSDR Bashir provides research support on project proposals, special issue briefs and assists in product design. He can be reached at bashir@csdronline.org

Laura O’Connor is a Junior Fellow & Associate - Research & Collaborations at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research. She has worked as a Senior Project Officer for Ottawa Dialogue, managing Track Two dialogues across South Asia and the Middle East. She has also worked as a Policy Analyst for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. She sits on the Executive Board of the International Young Pugwash, an affiliate of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Aside from policy work and Track Two, she has written and spoken on issues of reproductive justice, gender, and sexual health across North America, including in the Parliament of Canada. She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. Contact: laura@csdronline.org

Devika holds a Bachelor's in International Relations with a minor in Public Policy from FLAME University, Pune. She has a PG Diploma in Interdisciplinary Research, also from FLAME University. Her interest lies in security studies, foreign policy, and development studies with a focus on South Asia and the USA. 
Contact: devika@csdronline.org 

Sidharth Raimedhi has completed his Ph.D. from the Center for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament in JNU. His thesis seeks to explain great power responses to rising U.S. power historically – from Imperial Britain to Post Cold War China. He has previously worked as a consultant in the Ministry of External Affairs, where his research included China-related subjects such as OBOR, Civil-Military Fusion, Chinese influence in international organizations, and China’s nuclear doctrine. His research interests include strategic studies, China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. foreign policy, and geopolitics. He has taken part in several strategic workshops and presented papers on peacebuilding, cold war history, and balance of power politics. At CSDR Sidharth focuses on regional security and geopolitics and is the chief game designer for CSDR's Gaming Lab. Contact: sidharth@csdronline.org 

Prathit is an undergraduate student of Political Science at Ramjas College, University of Delhi. He is an international relations enthusiast and takes immense interest in areas such as China Studies, the UN System, Geopolitics, and Indian Foreign Policy. He is also a youth advocate for the rights of children and young people and has represented the voices of children and youth at several international forums including the United Nations.
Contact: prathit@csdronline.org 

Siddhant holds a master's degree in international politics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and is an engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology Allahabad. He has a keen interest in political psychology, nationalism, and the Realist-Constructivist debate. He is passionate about investigating cultural, technological, and economic aspects of international politics, particularly the rise and fall of Great Powers. At CSDR, he focuses on strategic doctrines, defense trade, and war gaming from a business consulting perspective. 
Contact: siddhant@csdronline.org

Mohak holds a Master’s in International and Area Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. His research is focused on India-South Asia relations encompassing areas like foreign policy, defence and development cooperation. Within South Asia, his geographical focus is on Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. His secondary area of research is non-traditional security. He has previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi and has coordinated several national and international events. At CLAWS, he was also a member of the outreach committee and part of a study sponsored by Ministry of Defence, India. At CSDR Mohak works on an AI analytics project. 
Contact: mohakgambhir@csdronline.org 

Saneet holds a Master’s in International Affairs from the LKY School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He has previously worked as a Research Analyst at Brookings India, where he was part of the initiative studying India's connectivity with South Asia. He has worked as an archival researcher on multiple projects focusing on Indian military and strategic culture, international thought, and Cold War foreign policy. Saneet's recent work has been on India's approach to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, on which he presented a paper in an international conference. Saneet has also worked as a CSR consultant for three years in India and completed his Engineering degree from BITS Pilani. 

Nicholas Rixon is a writer from Calcutta, India. He is a 2022 South Asia Speaks fellow, currently working on his debut novel. His work has appeared in Catapult, The Indian Quarterly, Scroll.in, The Assam Tribune, and The Statesman, among others. He has stories forthcoming in Outlook India, and A Case of Marvels: Unforgettable Stories from India’s Finest New Writers (Aleph Book Company, September 2022). He freelances as an editor/writer out of New Delhi.

Maknoon graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Delhi. He has previously worked on several documentaries and reports on communal violence, online hate-speech and internet shutdowns. Maknoon has also published research and stories on the topics of Why India Needs a Legal Instrument to Tackle Online Hate (Bot Popli, 2021), The Consumer Protection Questions Raised by Kashmir's Internet Shutdown (The Wire, 2021) among others. Maknoon has also been associated with the Internet Society, representing his region at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, 2021. He is an incoming graduate student at the Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford, 2023), and has previously received academic scholarships from the University College London (Global Masters Scholarship) and Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship (Government of Hungary). His research interests lie in internet governance, digital rights, data economy, and emerging topics in technology policy. Maknoon regularly publishes columns and analysis on Kashmir, with a focus on politics, defense and violence.
Contact: maknoon@csdronline.org 

Madhu completed her master's in Geopolitics and International Relations from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education and a bachelor’s in Computer Science Engineering. Her master's thesis explored the role of cyberspace in hybrid warfare and its implications for India. Her interest area includes India’s cybersecurity, cyber governance, and geopolitics in technology. She has done her internship at the Institute of Cyber Policy Studies, Israel. At CSDR, she focuses on “Emerging Technology and Public Policy”. Contact: madhuvanthi@csdronline.org

Manu is currently a PhD candidate at the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament at the School of International Studies (CIPOD), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. His PhD thesis examines the visual iconography of postage stamps and its role in articulating a postcolonial national identity and state-building efforts in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. His research interests include visual politics, popular culture, Indian foreign policy and India-Pakistan relations. At CSDR, he has previously worked with the India-Pakistan Chao Track II Dialogue and coordinated the Indo-Pak Conflict Monitor Website Initiative for Dr Happymon Jacob. Currently, he supports CSDR's research on peacebuilding, counterterrorism and South Asian regionalism. He can be reached at manusharma@csdronline.org

Ojaswee is a linguist who has received her PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her research interest lies in understanding how humans understand and compute what they say (syntax and semantics) and how discourse context sensitivity is essential for structuring how we say what we say (pragmatics, discourse analysis and information structure). Her doctoral thesis focused on a discourse particle '-to' in Hindi and how speakers compute the various interpretations of this particle at the syntax-semantics-pragmatics interface within different discourse contexts and how it relates to the architecture of the human language faculty. She has worked for the Central Institute of Indian Languages - Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL) projects for the documentation and writing grammars for the Rongpo and Spiti languages. At CSDR she works on projects under the Centre for Cyber, Space and AI. 

Saeed holds a masters degree in International Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His research interests include South Asia, energy and connectivity. He has worked as a Researcher at Gateway House, Mumbai engaging in research on green hydrogen, critical minerals supply chains and economic security. At CSDR, his work focuses on non-traditional security in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. 

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Ms Powell works on policy issues in energy and the environment primarily in the Indian context. Her current interests include energy access, carbon constraints on energy use, clean coal & natural gas for energy and environmental security. She is currently with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. Earlier she has worked for Norsk Hydro and for Orkla, two of Norway’s largest conglomerates whose interests include energy. Ms. Powell has three Post Graduate Degrees - two on Energy Management from Norway and one in Solid State Physics from India. She is a regular participant at The Chao Track India’s Economic Connectivity Dialogue.

Col. Shukla writes for the Business Standard on defense and strategic affairs, international relations and the defense economy. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and other international publications. He has also worked with NDTV from 2001 – 2008 as a prime – time news anchor and war correspondent. He reported extensively on Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and on the insurgencies in India’s North - East and Jammu & Kashmir. Ajai served as a combat soldier in the Indian Army for almost two decades (1979 - 2001) before retiring as a colonel. Ajai graduated from the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Col. Shukla has been associated with the activities of The Chao Track and has been a primary participant in its Strategic Dialogues.

Prof. Lama, a development economist, is a senior Professor in the School of International Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is presently Chief Economic Adviser designate in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Sikkim. He served as the Founding Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Sikkim; Member, National Security Advisory Board, Government of India; Chief Economic Adviser in the Government of Sikkim with a Cabinet Minister Rank (2002-2007) and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. Acclaimed as the Architect of the reopening of the historic Nathu-la trade route between Sikkim in India and Tibet Autonomous Region in China after 44 years in 2006, he has served as a member of the High Level National Committee to examine the Sixth Schedule Areas in the NorthEast Region (2007); Member of the Prime Ministers’ Task Force on Hill and Mountain Development. He has been associated as a professional with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, UNESCAP, USAID, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Australian Aid Agency, IDRC of Canada and ICIMOD in Kathmandu. Prof. Lama is a regular contributor to The Chao Track’s activities and publications.

A former naval officer, Abhijit Singh, Senior Fellow, heads the Maritime Policy Initiative at ORF. A maritime professional with specialist and command experience in front-line Indian naval ships, he has been involved in the writing of India's maritime strategy (2007). He is a keen commentator on maritime matters and has written extensively on security and governance issues in the Indian Ocean and Pacific littorals. His articles and commentaries have been published in the Asian Bureau for Asian Research (NBR), the Lowy Interpreter, the World Politics Review, the Diplomat and CSIS Pacific Forum. Editor of two books on maritime security — Indian Ocean Challenges: A Quest for Cooperative Solutions (2013) and Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific (2014), Abhijit has published papers on India’s growing maritime reach, security of sea-lines of communication in the Indo-Pacific region, Indian Ocean governance issues and maritime infrastructure in the Asian littorals.

Col. Shukla writes for the Business Standard on defense and strategic affairs, international relations and the defense economy. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and other international publications. He has also worked with NDTV from 2001 – 2008 as a prime – time news anchor and war correspondent. He reported extensively on Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and on the insurgencies in India’s North - East and Jammu & Kashmir. Ajai served as a combat soldier in the Indian Army for almost two decades (1979 - 2001) before retiring as a colonel. Ajai graduated from the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Col. Shukla has been associated with the activities of The Chao Track and has been a primary participant in its Strategic Dialogues.

Prof Gulshan Sachdeva is Jean Monnet Chair; Coordinator, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for EU Studies in India; and Professor, Centre for European Studies School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is also Editor-in-Chief, International Studies (Sage). As a regional cooperation specialist, he headed the ADB and the Asia Foundation projects at the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul (2006-2010). He is also a consultant with the ILO. His research is focused on the EU, Asian integration, Afghanistan, development cooperation and energy security. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. He is a regular contributor at CSDR’s The Chao Track Economic Connectivity activities and publications.

Dr. Joseph is an Associate Professor at Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), Delhi. He has a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, MPhil degree in Applied Economics from Centre for Development Studies, Kerala and Master’s degree in International Relations and Politics from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. Before joining ISID, he served as faculty at Central University of Gujarat (CUG), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). He specialises on International Political Economy and has written several papers on trade policy making, WTO TRIPS Agreement and public health, patents and innovation, international investment agreements and a book on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. Currently, his research is focused on the implications of FDI in research and development (R&D) on national innovation capability (with special reference to India).

Ms Powell works on policy issues in energy and the environment primarily in the Indian context. Her current interests include energy access, carbon constraints on energy use, clean coal & natural gas for energy and environmental security. She is currently with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. Earlier she has worked for Norsk Hydro and for Orkla, two of Norway’s largest conglomerates whose interests include energy. Ms. Powell has three Post Graduate Degrees - two on Energy Management from Norway and one in Solid State Physics from India. She is a regular participant at The Chao Track India’s Economic Connectivity Dialogue.

Afaq Hussain is Director and Founding Member of the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF), a New Delhi based trade and policy think-tank. He has over 15 years of experience of working on International Trade policy and logistics sector. He is an expert on tariff/non-tariff measures/barriers, value chain analysis, infrastructure gaps at ports, and appraisal of infrastructure & policy reforms at sea and land ports in India. His focus areas over the last few years have been aspects of regional integration particularly trade and cooperation in South Asia with a special focus on India-Pakistan. His work on Cross LoC engagements focuses on strengthening the mechanisms of LoC trade and enhancing the connectivity between the communities across LoC. He is a regular participant at The Chao Track India’s Economic Connectivity Dialogue.

Dr. Rahman holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, Assam. His areas of interests include research on Northeast India, mainly on issues relating to transboundary water sharing and hydropower dams, roads and connectivity infrastructures, conflict and insurgency, peace building, development politics, migration and cross border exchanges. His research specialization is on border studies in Northeast India and transboundary water sharing and management issues between China, India and Bangladesh. He is committed to grassroots based alternative community work and development models. He has travelled extensively in parts of Northeast India for research work. He has led research teams in Northeast India, and has travelled parts in China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar for research.

Dr. Sana Hashmi is Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University. She is a former Consultant in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, where she worked on the ASEAN region and the Indo-Pacific with a special reference to China from 2016-19. Her primary research focuses on China’s foreign policy, Taiwan’s foreign relations, India-Taiwan relations, China’s territorial disputes, and Asian security. Before MEA, she worked with the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), an autonomous think- tank under the Indian Air Force (IAF), from 2011-2016. She has also worked at South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). She holds MPhil and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has published several book chapters, articles in journals, magazines, web portals and newspaper articles. She is the author of the book, China’s Approach towards Territorial Disputes: Lessons and Prospects (New Delhi: Knowledge World, 2016). She can be reached at sanahashmi2@gmail.com .

Debak Das is a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University. His research lies at the intersection of International Relations, nuclear strategy, diplomacy, statecraft, and international history. His current book project explores how states build their nuclear forces. This research has been supported by the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, the MacArthur Foundation, the Wilson Center, Cornell University’s Graduate School, the Cornell Institute for European Studies, and the Chateaubriand Fellowship in Humanities and Social Sciences. Debak received his PhD from the Department of Government at Cornell University.

Col Rajneesh Singh is a former infantry officer with wide-ranging command, staff, and instructional experience. He has vast combat experience, a result of multiple deployments in a counter-insurgency environment. Rajneesh has an understanding of the functioning of India’s security establishment at the strategic level, having served more than once in the Army HQ. He has also served as a Military Observer in the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rajneesh has a doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has been a Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses. His multiple tenures as an instructor at some of the most prestigious training establishments of India’s Armed Forces has equipped him well for academic and research activities, post his active-duty soldiering. He has been a prolific writer and has authored monographs and research papers in some of the leading think tanks of the country. Col Rajneesh Singh (Retd.) is presently serving as a Consultant with the Ministry of Defence.        

Ritesh Kumar is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the K.M. Institute of Hindi and Linguistics, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra, India. He also coordinates the M.Sc. program in Computational Linguistics at the University's Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies. His research interests lie broadly at the intersection of pragmatics, sociolinguistics and computational linguistics. For the past several years, he has been working on the theoretical and computational modelling of politeness, impoliteness and aggression in language. His research in this field has been supported and funded by organisations like UKIERI, Microsoft Research and Facebook Research and has led to the development of tools and corpora for automatic detection of aggression and offensive content in languages like Hindi, Bangla and Meitei. At the same time, he is deeply involved with the issues of language endangerment, documentation, revitalization and technology and resource development for minoritised and endangered languages in India. He has been working on the development of language resources and technologies (such as ASR systems, POS taggers, language models, etc) for various minoritised and endangered languages (such as Awadhi, Beda, Braj Bhasha, Magahi, Toto, Chokri, among others) and also worked towards the development of software tools and infrastructure for supporting this kind of research. His research in this field has been generously funded by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Karya Inc., Panlingua and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. For more information about his research and contact details, you could visit his website here - https://sites.google.com/view/ctrans-dbrau/research/clresearch