Follow @csdr_india

Kim Heriot-Darragh

Non-Resident Fellow

Kim is a Research Fellow at the Australia India Institute. A strategic and defence analyst, he joins after a career in government. While posted to the Australian High Commission in New Delhi (2019-23), he became the first Australian civilian to graduate India’s year-long National Defence College course. At CSDR, he assists with our work on India-Australia defense cooperation and the Indo-Pacific.

Kim is a Research Fellow at the Australia India Institute. A strategic and defence analyst, he joins after a career in government. While posted to the Australian High Commission in New Delhi (2019-23), he became the first Australian civilian to graduate India’s year-long National Defence College course. He previously served with the Australian government in Washington DC, and deployed as a civilian on military operations in Timor-Leste and Afghanistan. A former Indonesian linguist, he holds a Master of International Law.

At CSDR, he assists with our work on India-Australia defense cooperation and the Indo-Pacific.

Areas of
Expertise

India-Australia

Indo-Pacific

International Security

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.

Dr. Gaurav Saini

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

Team

Taasha Mistry

Reserach Intern

Taasha Mistry is an intern at CSDR. She is a student of International Relations and Advertising at FLAME University and is committed to pursuing a career in the field of Security Studies and Risk Analysis, while other topics that interest her include Foreign Policy and Diplomacy.

Vedant Thakkar

Research Intern

Vedant is a research intern at CSDR. His key research areas include international energy security, ethnic conflict and conflict resolution avenues. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy from the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) at O.P. Jindal Global University.

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.

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.

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.

Radhey Shyam

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

Experts

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.

Ashok K. Kantha

Distinguished Fellow

Ashok K. Kantha is a distinguished diplomat who served as India’s Ambassador to China (2014-16) and Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs. With over 38 years of diplomatic experience specializing in India’s neighborhood relations, he was India’s lead negotiator for key agreements with China.

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.

C Raja Mohan

Distinguished Fellow

C Raja Mohan is a Distinguished Fellow at CSDR and directs CSDR’s Geopolitics and International Security Program. He is also the Korea Chair, 2025, for a ROK-India research project supported by the Korea Foundation.

Rakesh Sood

Distinguished Fellow

Rakesh Sood is a Distinguished Fellow at CSDR and directs the work of CSDR’s Space Technologies and Policy Program.

//

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.