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Riva Ganguly Das

Distinguished Fellow

Riva Ganguly Das is a Distinguished Fellow at CSDR and supports CSDR’s work on the Indo-Pacific and South Asia.

Ambassador Das joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986. She has served as High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Romania, Albania and Moldova and has served as Consul General in Shanghai and New York. She has also done postings in Spain and The Netherlands and has served in various capacities at Headquarters dealing with Nepal, Public Diplomacy, Passport & Consular, and United Nations. She has also served as the Director at the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Division and participated in environmental negotiations, particularly climate change. She was also the Alternate Permanent Representative of India to the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague. She has also served as Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Before her retirement she was Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Areas of
Expertise

Climate Security

Indian Foreign Policy

Indo-Pacific

South Asia

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

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.

Aersh Danish

Lead – Communications and Outreach

Aersh has over nine years of experience in foreign policy and security studies, research, and strategic communications. At CSDR, Aersh leads the production and dissemination of quality content for CSDR’s various stakeholders.

Araudra Singh

Research Intern

Araudra is a Research Intern at CSDR.

Akanksha Baruah

Research Intern

Akansha is a reserach intern at CSDR.

Afridi Ahmed

Research Intern

Afridi is a research intern at CSDR.

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.

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.

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.

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.