Alok Bansal, a serving naval officer with over 26 years of commissioned service, is Research Fellow at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA),   He is part of Southern Asia cluster and his areas of interest include Pakistan , Indian Ocean Region, Indian Diaspora and Maritime Issues.During his naval career. He has been an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College , Wellington .He holds M Sc and M Phil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from University of Madras .  

 He tracks events in South Asia, with especial focus on Pakistan .  He has contributed chapters in books and written extensively for international research journals, websites and newspapers on South Asia , Indian Diaspora and Maritime Security. He has coedited two books titled “Pakistan Occupied Kashmir: The Untold Story” and “ Sri Lanka : Search for Peace”.   His book on Balochistan titled “ Pakistan at Crossroads: Balochistan in Line of Fire” is under publication. He can be contacted at alokbansal_nda@yahoo.com

He has been Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi since 2003. Earlier he was the Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies of South Asia, Colombo from 1999 to 2002 and Jennings Randolph Fellow at the US Institute of Peace, Washington , DC in 2002-2003. Earlier he served for seven years in the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi as a Senior Fellow and as Deputy Director. He was a consultant to the UN on the Conventional Arms Register in 2000 and an international adviser to the ICRC in 1999-2003. He has written extensively on security, disarmament and non-proliferation issues. He was commissioned in to the First Gorkha Rifles in Dec 1960; he commanded a Gorkha Battalion and was later Colonel of his Regiment in 1992-1996. He follows developments Nepal closely and visits it often. Resides in Delhi and can be contacted at dbanerjee@ipcs.org

Amb. M.K. Bhadrakumar

       Mr. M.K.Bhadrakumar served in the Indian Foreign Service for three decades and served as ambassador to Uzbekistan and Turkey . Apart from two postings in the former Soviet Union, his assignments abroad included South Korea , Sri Lanka , West Germany , Kuwait Pakistan and Afghanistan . He served thrice in the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan Division in the Ministry of External Affairs, including as the Head of the Division in 1992-95.

       Mr. Bhadrakumar sought voluntary retirement from the IFS in 2002 and has since devoted himself to writing. He contributes to various publications in India and abroad and is a regular columnist for Asia Times and The Hindu. He has written extensively on Russia , China , Central Asia, Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan and on the geopolitics of energy security. He is presently residing at Delhi and can be contacted at mkbhadrakumar@gmail.com

Brig. Rahul K. Bhonsle (Retd.)

A military veteran with over three decades of active service, Brig (Retd) Rahul Bhonsle is affiliated as a research scholar with the USI of India. His areas of interest include South Asia, future warfare and human security. He is a regular contributor to leading main stream and professional newspapers, Web sites and Journals and edits a monthly, “South Asia Security Trends”. His most recent work entitled, “Mumbai 26/11: Security Imperatives for the Future”, published by Vijbooks, New Delhi, is an attempt at in depth analysis of the incident and its wider ramifications, which has been very well received. He is presently working on Net Assessment of Indian Security. He was most recently associated with a brainstorming session on Afghanistan held by Rand Corporation and Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna in June 2009. He resides in Delhi and can be contacted at rkbhonsle@gmail.com

Dr. Chellaney is a  Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, an independent, privately funded think-tank. He is also a Member of the Policy Advisory Group headed by the Foreign Minister of India.Until January 2000, Professor Chellaney was an adviser to India ’s National Security Council, serving as convener of the External Security Group of the National Security Advisory Board, as well as member of the Board’s Nuclear Doctrine Group. He holds a Ph.D. in arms control. A specialist on international security and arm control issues, Professor Chellaney has held appointments at the Harvard University , the Brookings Institution, the Johns Hopkins University ’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Australian National University . He is the author of three books, and has published research papers in international publications. Resides at Delhi and can be contacted at chellaney@gmail.com  

Dr. Shanthie Mariet D'Souza is presently with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. Her research interest and expertise includes United States Counter terrorism policy in South Asia, Terrorism and Strategies in Counter Terrorism, Non State Armed Groups, Afghan Insurgency and the Counter Insurgency campaign. Shanthie has a PhD in International Relations, American Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has been a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at South Asia Studies, The Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC (2005-2006). She has been a Research Associate at Database & Documentation Centre of the Institute for Conflict Management, Guwahati, Assam (2003-05); and Editorial Assistant at the United Service Institution of India, New Delhi, 2001. She has conducted field studies in the United States, Canada, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jammu and Kashmir and India's North East.

She can be reached at shanthied@gmail.com

S.Gopal joined the Indian Police service in 1961 .After a brief stint in Gujarat . he joined the Intelligence Bureau in 1967 and then moved to the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) on its formation in 1968 and retired from there  as Special Secretary. He had also headed the aviation research centre, an important wing of the intelligence community for a few years. He contributes frequently to Newspapers on strategic issues. He is presently a visiting professor at Manipal University . He resides in Bangalore and can be contacted at mutason@gmail.com

Colonel R Hariharan

Col R Hariharan, a retired officer of the Intelligence Corps, served in the Army for nearly three decades. During his career he was a specialist on Bangladesh , Burma , and Sri Lanka with special focus on insurgency and terrorism.  His intelligence operational experience includes service as the Head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka (1987-90). He was awarded the Visisht Sewa Medal (VSM) for his distinguished services in Sri Lanka .

 He writes analytical articles on national security issues, mostly relating to Burma , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka , terrorism and insurgency. He is a member of the Delhi-based intelligence think tank “South Asia Analysis Group”. He regularly writes in their website  www.saag.org, which carries over 90 of his papers. He also writes in The Hindu and the Indian Express.

After retirement from Army, he served as the Executive Director of the Madras Management Association for a decade.  He was awarded the Konrad Adenauer Medal for the leadership he provided to the joint project of MMA and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

He now recides in Chennai and can be contacted by E Mail: colhari@gmail.com, colhari@yahoo.com

Vice Admiral PJ Jacob

Retired as Vice Chief of Naval Staff, an alumnus of the National Defence College, he has commanded the Eastern Fleet and also been the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. He is a former member of the National Security Advisory Board and currently Chairman of the Global India Foundation. Resides in Bangalore and can be contacted by E mail at pjjacob@vsnl.net  

Ambassador Akbar Mirza Khaleeli

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in May 1959 and has served as Ambassador to Iran and Italy. He was High Commissioner to Australia from 1991 to 94. He has also served in Indian Missions at Baghdad , Colombo and Amman . Can speak Persian, Urdu, French and Arabic. He is a student of comparative theology and cultures. Interested in Persian poetry, vocal music and painting. Resides at Bangalore and can be contacted on telephone No 080-22257494

Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli

He  is Professor of Chinese Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University . He is also an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, Research Associate at the Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and Honorary Professor at Shandong University. Served at the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi for nearly 12 years. He trained in Chinese studies in India and China , gaining his M.A, from the Osmania University , Hyderabad , M. Phil. And D. Phil. From the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi . He was a post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow at People’s University, Beijing from 1996-98, Visiting Professor at National Chengchi University, Taipei in 2004, Visiting Fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Beijing in May 2007 and Honorary Professor at Shandong University, Jinan. He can be contacted at srikondapalli@gmail.com

Amb. Krishnan is a distinguished IFS officer who has held varied diplomatic assignments. Retired finally as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York . After retirement, he as assigned as Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, in charge of the AFRICA Fund (1986-89); set up the School of International Studies of the Pondicherry University as its first Dean (1988-90); Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (1987-90); Member of the Executive Board of UNESCO in Paris (1989-93); Member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Disarmament 91995-98). Currently, he is Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Social Studies Trust , New Delhi/Bangalore; Member of the Governing Board of Kalakshetra, Madras ; and member of the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Latin American Studies, Goa University . Resides at Bangalore and can be contacted at natlalk@bgl.vsnl.net.in

He is currently a Research Faculty member in the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore . He conducts academic and policy research on issues relating to national and international security.  Before joining the NIAS in 1996, he was working with the IDSA in New Delhi . He also taught Political Science at Delhi University . He has many publications to his credit and has delivered talks in India and abroad. Resides at Bangalore and can be contacted at arvind@nias.iisc.ernet.in  

Ambassador A. Madhavan

Joined IFS in 1956 after graduation, was posted in Burma and later in Hong Kong as Commissioner, and in Europe , apart from two postings in the Ministry of External Affairs. Senior level postings: Dy. Chief of Mission in the Indian Embassy, Moscow from winter 1981 to spring 1985, then Ambassador to Japan for three years, then Ambassador to Germany for three years.
After retirement, was Director, India International Centre, New Delhi for three years . Now settled in Mysore since 1995. He is a founder member of the Asia Centre. His interests include International Relations, History, Literature and Music. He can be contacted by E mail at madhavanmys@yahoo.com  

 Air Chief Marshal F H Major (Retd.)

        He was born on 29 May 1947 and was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 31 Dec 1967. He has flown over 7000 hours on various aircraft & helicopters. He led the daring rescue of eleven passengers from a stranded cable car in the middle of a valley in Himachal Pradesh. For this act of gallantry, he was awarded the ‘Shaurya Chakra’.

 He took over as the Air Officer Commanding Leh (Ladakh), in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict. For his leadership, successful accomplishment of tasks and distinguished service of a very high order, he was awarded the ‘Ati Vishist Seva Medal’. On 5 September 2005, he was appointed as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command. He took over as the Chief of the Air Staff on 31 March 2007. He is a graduate of the National Defence College and Army War College . He can be contacted at falimajor@yahoo.co.in

Maj. Gen. Ashok Mehta (Retd.)

He belonged to the Fifth Gorkhas and has known Nepal since 1959, when he first trekked there. He has covered some 30,000 km on foot in its countryside. So he knows the ground and the people, two key elements for understanding any insurgency. He has written more than 500 articles on Nepal , including some on the recent uprising.  One of his papers was entitled ‘Operation Tribhuvan’, dealing with the leftist insurgency in Nepal .  He was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his travels and his work in promoting the welfare of Gorkha servicemen.  Resides at Delhi and can be contacted at mehtaashokk@yahoo.co.in

A distinguished and decorated officer of the Army. He has attended the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Course at Tamishenko Academy in Moscow and is also a graduate of the United States Army Was College (1990-91) During his 41 years Army Service he has held many important assignments including Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning and Systems) and General Officer Commanding in Chief, Army Training Command. Finally he retired as GOC in C, Western Command. After retirement he was appointed Principal Adviser of CII and he is now its Director General. He is currently a Member of the UGC standing committee on Public Policy; and a Member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB). Resides at Delhi and can be contacted at s.s.mehta@ciionline.org  

Shri Kesava Menon  

Air Marshall (Retd)N Menon

Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba

He is a working Journalist based in Chennai. He has a doctoral degree from School of International Studies , Jawaharlal Nehru University , New Delhi . He has authored two books, “The Demand for Partition of India and British Policy 1940-45,” and “Soundings on South Asia ”, He is currently working on “Partition of India -A collective Reading. ”. His research papers have appeared in Indian Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis (IDSA), Mujtaba is the only Indian journalist in 2003 to be awarded Jefferson fellowship by the East West Center, Hawaii. As part of this fellowship programme, he visited US mainland, South Korea , Vietnam , and Singapore . He is also a filmmaker and made a documentary “Beyond Empires” for an American film company Lamppost Media.

 Mujtaba is the founder and moderator of an intellectual forum on the Internet called South Asia Contact Group. He writes for several newspapers, news syndicates and websites. He is India correspondent for Myanmar ’s pro-democracy news network Mizzima dot com and Mizzima TV. He does a ‘Walk n Talk’ programme for the Mizzima TV.He can be contacted by E mail at  syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com.

Prof. Rajaram Nagappa

        Prof. Rajaram Nagappa has specialized in aerospace propulsion and has over four decades of experience in the field. His productive years were at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre where he led the solid propellant rocket activities with distinction. His most notable contributions were in achieving total self-reliance in the development and realisation of solid rocket systems for the ISRO launch vehicles.

      Professor Nagappa is currently Visiting Professor with the International Strategic and Security Studies Programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore . His current interests relate to missile capabilities in China and the neighbouring countries and on space security and weaponisation matters. He can be contacted at r.nagappa@gmail.com

Lt. Gen (Retd) Satish Nambiar

         Commissioned into the Maratha Light Infantry, the General Officer commanded two battalions of the Regiment. A graduate of the Australian Staff College , he was a member of a training team in Iraq , was on the faculty of the Defence Services Staff College , and served as Military Adviser at the High Commission of India in London . As Director General of Military Operations in 1991, he led two defence delegations for talks with Pakistan . Appointed the first Force Commander and Head of the United Nations forces in the former Yugoslavia .

        Retired as the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff on 31^st August 1994. Is a recipient of the Vir Chakra for bravery in battle. Till recently he was the Director of the United Service Institution of India. He served on a 16 member high level international panel appointed by the United Nations Secretary General on “Threats, Challenges and Change”. Awarded the Padma Bhushan on 26 Jan 2009.Resides at Noida and can be contacted at satishnambiar36@yahoo.co.in

She is a Research Fellow at the IDSA. Her specialisation is the regional security and foreign policy of the South Asian countries. She has undertaken research trips to all the countries of South Asia and presented papers in various national and international seminars, besides writing extensively on issues relating to them. She was a visiting Asia Fellow at the Department of International Relations, Dhaka University for a year. She worked on Identity politics and Indian immigrants in Nepal for her Ph.D. She has also written on the Indo-Nepal open border, the Maoist insurgency and the socio-political dynamics of Nepal .  She lives in New Delhi and can be contacted at smrutipattanaik@rediffmail.com  

He can be contacted on E Mail at dsrajan@gmail.com

Ambassador K.V.Rajan

Is a former member of the Indian Foreign Service. He has served in senior diplomatic assignments including in the rank of Ambassador in a number of countries including France , USA, UK, Zambia, Algeria and Nepal (where he was Ambassador from 1995 to 2000). He has also held senior positions in the External Affairs Ministry including as Secretary (East)  and Advisor to the Minister; led the Indian delegation, including as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, to various international conferences and summit meetings; was co-Chairman of the India-Iran Joint Committee on the Iran-Pak-India Gas Pipeline, Member of the Oil Diplomacy Group set up by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Chief Executive of the Trade Fair Authority of India (now India Trade Promotion Organization). He is widely traveled and is a specialist on South Asian, Asian,  European, American and African issues.

He is  presently a Member of the  National Security Advisory Board, Government of India, He can be contacted at krishnavrajan@yahoo.co.in  

Shri B. Raman

Joined the I P S in 1961 and served in Madhya Pradesh state. Moved to Cabinet Secretariat in 1968 as an external intelligence analyst. In 1984 he was permanently absorbed in the Cabinet Secretariat from where he retired in1994 as additional Secretary. After retirement, he started the “Institute for Topical Studies” at Chennai of which he is the director. He is convener, Chennai Chapter of “Observer Research Foundation”. Was member of National Security Advisory Board from 2000 to2002. Has written over 400 articles for various publications and regularly participates in seminars and discussions on matters of national security. Resides at Chennai and can be contacted at seventyone2@gmail.com

   Ambassador C.V. Ranganathan

Shri. C. V Ranganathan joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1959 and has served in a number of distinguished positions as a diplomat. He has been the First Secretary, Embassy of India , Beijing , China (1965 – 1968) and Commissioner of India , Hong Kong (1980 – 1983). He has been Ambassador of India to various countries to including China and France .  Though he retired from Indian Foreign Service in 1993, he continues to be active, holding advisory and research positions. He is the Co-Chairman of “India-China Eminent Persons Group” from 2006. He has published many articles and contributions to books, newspapers, journals, and magazines in India and abroad on international affairs. His book “ India and China – The Way Ahead” that he Co-author with V.C. Khanna has won critical acclaim. Till recently he was the convener of the National Security Advisory Group.  He can be contacted on E-mail: viranga@dataone.in

Shri Gururaj Rao

          Since July, 2007, Shri C. Gururaj Rao has been dealing with Nepal and Bhutan as Director (North) in the Ministry of External Affairs.  He served in Nepal for six years from 2001-2007 initially as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and later he opened a Consulate in Birgunj (2004) and served as Consul General.  

            Shri Rao also served in Indian Missions in Lisbon and Nairobi . During 1995-98, he participated in the Inter-governmental Negotiating Committee on Biological diversity as well as Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. He represented India in the Commission on Sustainable Development (1996) in the United Nations at New York . Shri Rao is a post-graduate in Genetics and belongs to 1990 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. He can be contacted at c.gururajrao@gmail.com

Satinder K. Lambah was born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) on July 16, 1941. He holds a Masters in History from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1964 and has held important positions both after retirement and during service. Currently he is Special Envoy in the Prime Minister’s Office. Prior to this, he has served as the Convenor of the National Security Advisory Board(2004-05), Special Envoy of Government of India for Afghanistan(2001-02) and Chair of a Committee appointed by the Government of India on the reorganization of the Ministry of External Affairs and India’s Diplomatic Missions abroad(2001). He is President of the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India and was President of Association of Indian Diplomats (2005-06).  He resides at Delhi and can be contacted at sklambah@hotmail.com

Shri Rajiv Sikri  

Rajiv Sikri is a distinguished career diplomat who retired in 2006 after more than 36 years with the Indian Foreign Service.  His last assignment was as Secretary (East) in India ’s Ministry of External Affairs, in which capacity he was responsible for relations with East Asia , ASEAN, Pacific region, Arab world, Israel , Iran , and the ex-Soviet countries.  Earlier, he was Special Secretary for Economic Relations responsible for overall foreign economic relations, including India ’s external technical and economic assistance programmes.  He has served as India ’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan , and headed the Departments dealing with West Europe as well as the Soviet Union and East Europe in the Foreign Office.  He has also served in Moscow (twice), New York, Paris and Nepal .  He is fluent in Russian and French. He can be contacted by E Mail at rajivsikri@gmail.com

Shri Aravind Sitaraman

A Computer Scientist with over 20 years of work experience, Aravind Sitaraman has over 48 US patents for inventions in cutting edge technology . After pioneering work in several startup companies, he became one of Cisco Systems leading inventors. He returned to India in 2000 and has taken up a new line. He has reestablished the website “whatisindia.com” in Bangalore . This has its roots in ‘Prakash’, a policy advocacy group founded by him in the United States in 1995. This group brought together thousands of Indian American professionals into a single voice called ‘Prakash’ and has communicated with the US Congress, Senate and Administration on many issues. He is on the Board of Studies of Anna University and serves on the Board of Trustees of an educational trust bringing technology to rural India . He is a strategic analyst and he writes regularly on current issues for leading newspapers and the electronic media. Resides at Bangalore and can be contacted at editor@whatisindia.com 

He is a distinguished foreign Service Officer who has held important diplomatic and staff appointments. He was formerly Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Vienna; Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Washington; Ambassador/ Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the UN, New York; High Commissioner of India to Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu; Held diplomatic assignments in Japan, Bhutan, USSR, USA and Myanmar; Deputy Secretary and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

 After retirement he has settled down at Thiruvananthapuram  and is presently Managing Trustee and Director General, Kerala International Centre;  Adviser to, Asianet TV;  Visiting Faculty, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam; President, Sree Chithira Thirunal Smaraka Samithi, Thiruvananthapuram; Columnist, the Times of India, the Tribune and Rediff.com .

He can be contacted by E Mail at tpsreenivasan@gmail.com

Shri Tharakan retired from the Indian Police Service in January 2007, after serving as Director General of  Police, Kerala and Secretary (R) in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. After retirement, he served as Advisor to the Second Administrative Reforms Commission on Counter-terrorism and as Advisor to the Governor of Karnataka during President’s Rule. Currently, he is a Member of the National Security Advisory Board, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Strategic Initiatives being set up by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India at the Indian Institute of  Science, Bangalore, Chief Advisor (Strategic Studies), BrahMos Aerospace and Visiting Professor at the Department of Geopolitics, Manipal University. He studies and writes on issues of strategic interest. Resides in Bangalore and can be contacted at pkhtarakhan@gmail.com