Presently he is a Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation. He was the Indian Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran (2011-15). During his tenure, he led negotiations on Indian Participation in Chabahar Port. In the past, he has served as Indian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Libya and India’s High Commissioner to Malta. He joined Indian Foreign Services in 1978. After retirement, he served as Senior Advisor to ONGC Videsh Ltd (2015-16). He also served as an Independent Director on the Board of GAIL (2017-20). He negotiated the MOU with Iran for Indian participation in Chabahar Port and has served on the Board of Directors of India Ports Global Ltd, the company under the Shipping Ministry charged with the development of Chabahar Port.

Contributions 
Continuing Tragedy in Gaza President Biden’s statement last week that there would be a Hamas-Israel deal by Monday, 4th March had raised hopes for a breakthrough in the talks being hosted in Cairo for hostage release and a pause in fighting. Israel had not sent its delegatio...

The Supreme Court’s judgment on the Deletion of Article 370 and Pakistan’s Reaction Supreme Court’s historic judgment on the deletion of Article 370 has settled the legal questions raised by the petitioners. The Court has stated that the provision was temporary, and the President had the power to issue a proclamation for deleting ...

COP 28: A Breakthrough or a Stalemate? The climate summit hosted by the UAE produced the first global stocktaking. This was a review of the progress made by member states in moving towards the agreed goals for emissions’ reduction. The report card was not satisfactory. COP 28 called on ...

United Nations in a World of Crises The 78th session of the United Nations opened amidst a deepening sense of crisis. The UN Secretary-General said that the ‘world is becoming unhinged.’ [1] The UNGA President ...

President Biden’s Visit to India, G-20 Summit, and Changing Contours of World Politics Delhi Declaration adopted by G-20 countries has been welcomed by all sides. No less important were a number of bilateral engagements that took place between India and some of the participating countries. They reflect the changing contours of world po...

Book Published / Book Reviews 
Book Review: ‘A Life Well Spent: Four Decades in the Indian Foreign Service’; Amb. Satish Chandra, Roopa Publications, 2023, ISBN: 9357020950, pp. 284, Rs 636 The book by Ambassador Satish Chandra covers four decades he served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1965 to 2005. The book is not simply an account of his personal journey. It provides a glimpse into the making of foreign policy. It also covers In...

VIF Briefs 
Pakistan: Nuclear Deterrence and Ideology The nuclear age coincided with the advent of the Cold War. The concept of deterrence evolved in the background of ideological divide. However, both sides kept nuclear deterrence insulated from ideological considerations. This pragmatism was born out ...

Event Reports 
Release of the Interim Report of the VIF Task Force on ‘India’s Energy Transition in a Carbon-Constrained World: The Role of Nuclear Power’ by Gurumurthy Ji, Chairman, VIF Shri Gurumurthy Ji, Chairman VIF made a virtual release of the Interim Report of the VIF Task Force on “India’s Energy Transition in a Carbon-Constrained World: The Role of Nuclear Power” at a function hosted by the Vivekananda International Fo...

Release of ‘Forgotten Kashmir: The Other Side of the Line of Control’ by Shri Manoj Sinha, Lt. Governor of Union Territory of J&K Shri Manoj Sinha, Lt. Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir released ‘Forgotten Kashmir: The Other Side of the Line of Kashmir’ in a virtual event on 18th March 2021. The book has been published by Harper Collins. Its author Ambass...

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