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Dr. Gaurav Saini

Co-Founder

Gaurav Saini is co-founder of CSDR and leads product design and partnerships.

Dr. Saini holds a PhD in International Politics from the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His doctoral thesis titled “India’s Strategic Culture: A study of Indian thinking on China, 1998-2014” focuses on contemporary Indian strategic thought with a particular emphasis on China. His research interests include foreign policy, strategic culture, defense industry, regionalism, and conflict resolution. Currently, he is an Emerging Quad Think Tank Leader, a part of the U.S. State Department’s Leaders Lead on Demand program. The program brings together 20 thought leaders (5 from each of the 4 Quad countries) to work together on various aspects of the Quad in the Indo Pacific region. At CSDR, he is responsible for product design and partnerships.

Areas of
Expertise

Conflict Resolution

Emerging Technologies Geopolitics

Indian Defense Industry

Indian Foreign Policy

Indo-Pacific

FOUNDERS

Dr. Happymon Jacob

Founder & Director

Happymon Jacob is the founder and director of CSDR. He directs CSDR’s research and activities across divisions.

Lt Gen D S Hooda (Retd)

D S Hooda co-founded CSDR and directs projects of its defense and security verticals.

Team

Hely Desai

Research Associate

Hely Desai is a nuclear policy expert and Research Fellow at CTBTO, focusing on South Asian nuclear policy. With an MPhil from Cambridge, she has worked at the Centre for Air Power Studies and India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Moksh Suri

Research Intern

Moksh Suri is a Research Intern at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research.

Radhey Shyam

Radhey manages the CSDR office and ensures it remains a welcoming and enabling environment for CSDR staff and guests.

Chiara Boldrini

Visiting Researcher

Chiara Boldrini is a PhD candidate in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, and a visiting researcher at CSDR.

Torunika Roy

Research Assistant

Torunika Roy is a PhD candidate in Korean Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She holds a BA from Ewha Womans University and an MA from JNU. Her research focuses on gender dynamics, low fertility rates, denuclearization, and socio-political issues in East Asia, particularly South Korea.

Shashank Tiwari

Research Intern

Shashank is a research intern at CSDR, where he focuses on international security and defense. He holds a master’s degree in Politics (International & Area Studies) from Jamia Millia Islamia and a bachelor’s in Political Science from Mumbai University’s K.J. Somaiya College.

Experts

Ajay Bisaria

Ajay Bisaria is a distinguished diplomat, strategic consultant, and commentator on international affairs. With a career spanning 35 years in the Indian Foreign Service, he has played pivotal roles in shaping India’s key economic and security relationships.

Dr. Iqbal Singh Sevea

Distinguished Fellow

Dr. Sevea is an Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). An internationally recognized scholar of contemporary and modern South Asia, his research focuses on South Asian politics and social and political thought.

Prof. Sumit Ganguly

Distinguished Fellow

Prof. Sumit Ganguly is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Huntington Program on Strengthening the US-India Relationship at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Dr. Tishya Khillare

Dr. Tishya Khillare is a Fellow at CSDR. She leads CSDR’s work on Non-traditional Security issues in South Asia and the Indo Pacific, specifically on Climate Diplomacy, South-South and Triangular Cooperation, Feminist Foreign Policy, and Gender and Security.

Atul Chandra

Non-Resident Fellow

Atul is a Non-Resident Fellow at CSDR and supports our work on Aerospace and Defense industry.

Dr. Debak Das

Non-Resident Fellow

Debak is a Non-Resident Fellow at CSDR and supports our work on Nuclear security and international security.

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IDEAS INSPIRING CHANGE, GLOBAL IMPACT

Our programs encompass an array of critical topics, including climate security, emerging technologies, gender-sensitive foreign policy, non-traditional security, artificial intelligence, Defense and security, Geopolitics, Regionalism, Internet and society, among others.