USI Core Team

Major General Rajendra Singh Yadav, VSM (Retd)

Director Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3)

Major General Rajendra Singh Yadav, VSM (Retd) is presently Director of Centre for Strategic Studies & Simulation (CS3) at United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. He is President’s Awardee from the National Defence Academy, served an illustrious 38 years with the Infantry. He has rich operational experience of CI/CT operations and both Pak and China fronts. He was also a Defence Attache of India in the Middle East. Post superannuation, he has been Vice Chancellor of a University. Has travelled 24 countries, and has deep interest in International Relations, with specialisation in West Asian region.

Dr (Mrs) Roshan Khanijo

Assistant Director (Research)

Her academic qualification includes BSc, MA and PhD. Her area of interests is strategic issues particularly Nuclear Strategy, Nuclear profile of Nuclear Weapon States, Armament, Disarmament, Niche technologies etc. She has authored and edited books, monographs, occasional papers namely, “Complexities and Challenges of Nuclear India”, “The Indo-Pacific Region: Security Dynamics & Challenges”, “Iranian Nuclear Conundrum”, etc. She has been a panellist in various national and international panel discussions and a guest speaker at Air War College, Hyderabad, Southern Naval command, Kochi, OP Jindal Global University, etc. She was the member of the study team which did the Net Assessment on China, South Asia, Pakistan, etc for HQIDS.

Research Faculty

Brigadier Pawan Bhardwaj, YSM

Senior Research Fellow

Brigadier Pawan Bhardwaj is an Infantry Officer with 31 years of service experience in operational areas of Siachen Glacier, Line of Control and Counter Insurgency. He has commanded an Infantry Battalion in Counter Insurgency and an Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control in the High Altitude Area. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he has held instructional appointments at the Army War College and the Infantry School. A five years tenure with Strategic Forces Command has given him a wholesome tri-service experience with a unique strategic perspective. His reading interests include Technology Trends, Information Warfare and Military Training. He is pursuing a Research Fellowship on Employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a Tactical Level with the United Service Institution of India, New Delhi.

Col Vijay Kumar Goyat

Senior Research Fellow

Col Vijay Goyat was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in Dec 1997. An alumnus of NDA Khadakwasla, his educational qualifications include B Tech, MSc (Def Tech) and MBA. The Officer has served in varied terrain pan India as well as being a Military Observer in Ivory Coast. He commanded an Engineer Regt in the Desert and North-East Sector and an Engineer Stores Depot at Delhi Cantt. His staff appointments include GSO1 in Army HQs and Col GS(IS) in a Corps. The Officer has rich experience in the construction of strategic infrastructure in North East and Eastern Ladakh. The Officer has been awarded a COAS Commendation Card thrice during his service so far. He is currently pursuing a Research Fellowship from USI on ‘Civil-Military Fusion: A Way Ahead in Building Infrastructure Along Northern Borders’.

Col Dheeraj Kumar

Senior Research Fellow

Col Dheeraj Kumar, an Infantry Officer, was commissioned into MAHAR Regt in 1999. Passed out from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, he is an alumnus of DSSC, Wellington and CDM, Secunderabad. The officer has varied experience of serving in diverse operational environments. His staff exposure includes tenures with a Bde HQ in Operation MEGHDOOT, Div HQ as part of Strike Corps as well as with AHQ. He commanded his Unit in Obstacle Ridden Terrain in peace and in a CI/ CT environment in an altitude Area in J & K. The officer is currently pursuing a research fellowship from USI in ‘Salience of social media in Hybrid Operations’.

Col Maneesh Parthsarthy, VSM

Senior Research Fellow

Col Maneesh Parthsarthy, VSM is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadkwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He was commissioned into the Second Battalion The 8th Gorkha Rifles on 11 Dec 1999. He has varied military experience by virtue of serving along the LC, LAC and AGPL with his unit in OP MEGHDOOT, OP AMAN, OP PARAKARAM and OP RAKSHAK. He has been an Instructor at the NDA, Senior Comd Wing and the Trg Task Force, Congo. He has excelled in military courses including the prestigious Defence Services Staff College Course and the Higher Command Course. He holds degrees in MSc and MPhil in Defense and Strategic Studies from Madras University and Punjab University. He commanded the 51 Special Action Group of the National Security Guard from 2014-2017. The officer before joining the USI was serving as Director, Evaluation and Monitoring of Investments, AGIF. He is currently pursuing a Research Fellowship from USI on ‘Emerging Disruptive Technologies and their impact on the future Battlefields’.

Col Suraksh Vir

Senior Research Fellow

Colonel Suraksh Vir was commissioned in the Indian Army in the Corps of Signals on 06 Dec 1997. He is an alumnus of IMA Dehradun, MCTE Mhow and IIT Kharagpur. He did his MTech in ‘Electronics and Electrical Communication from IIT Kharagpur in 2010. He has Commanded two units and has also tenanted important staff appointments as Joint Director, NFS Cell, DCSO, HQ 11 Corps and Col Sigs (Proj Mgt), HQ 4 Corps. As Commanding Officer he raised 17 Corps Operating Signal Regiment from 2013 to 2016 and Commanded 101 IFSU a strategic Intelligence Unit from 2018 to 2022 where he was awarded Vice Chief of Army Commendation Card in 2021. He is pursuing a Research Fellowship from USI on ‘Enhancing Offensive Cyber Capability at National Level’.

Gp Capt Saminjay Kumar

Senior Research Fellow

Gp Capt Saminjay Kumar was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 28 Nov 1994 in the Aeronautical Engineering Electronics Branch. He is an engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from National Institute of Engineering Mysore. He did his Master of Engineering in Guided Missiles from DIAT Pune. He is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College Wellington. During his career in the Indian Air Force, he has worked on various Radars, Communication and IT systems in IAF. His appointments include, Chief Technical Officer in the Radar Signal Unit, Senior Engineer at the Base Repair Depot, Joint Director in the Electronic Maintenance Management System (e-MMS) Project and Staff Coordinating Officer to ACAS Operations Communication & IT at Air HQ. He also had a posting tenure in Sri Lanka for Project Op Dristi. Presently, he is pursuing a research fellowship on “Realisation of the aim of Atma Nirbhar Bharat in Defence Sector” at USI, New Delhi.

Dr Jagannath Panda

Senior Research Fellow

Dr. Jagannath Panda is a Senior Fellow at the United Services Institution of India (USI). Currently, Dr. Panda is based in Stockholm, and is the Head of Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Sweden. In addition to his primary appointment at ISDP, Dr. Panda is also the Director for Europe-Asia Research Cooperation at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS); International Research Fellow at the Cannon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS) in Japan; a Senior Fellow at East Asian Security Centre at Bond University, Australia; and a Senior Research Fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies (JFSS), Tokyo. He was a fellow at India’s premier think-tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (now, Manohar Parrikar-IDSA) for one and half-decade [2006-2022]. As a senior expert on Indo-Pacific affairs, Dr. Panda’s research focuses primarily on India’s relations with Indo-Pacific powers (China, Japan, Korea, USA); EU-India Relations; and EU’s infrastructure, connectivity and maritime initiatives in Indo-Pacific. He is the Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia, and also the Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Asian Public Policy (JAPP: Routledge). Dr. Panda has a monthly column as “Asia’s Next Page” with Japan Forward, and is a keen follower of Chinese, Japanese and Korean affairs. He has been a Korea Foundation (2018) and Japan Foundation fellow (2018). He frequently writes for The National Interest, China Brief (Jamestown Foundation), The Diplomat, 38 North (Stimson Centre), Asia Times, The Japan Times, The Diplomat, South Asian Voices and many other international forums. Dr. Panda is the author of the book India-China Relations (Routledge: 2017) and China’s Path to Power: Party, Military and the Politics of State Transition (IDSA & Pentagon Press: 2010). His recent work includes Quad Plus and Indo-Pacific (Routledge: 2021); Scaling India-Japan Cooperation in Indo-Pacific and Beyond 2025 (KW Publishing Ltd. 2019), and The Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific Power Politics: Status Security at Stake (Routledge, 2020), India-Japan-ASEAN Triangularity (Routledge: 2022), and the Future of Korean Peninsula: Korea 2032 and Beyond (Routledge: 2021).

Dr Tricia Bacon

Senior Research Fellow

Dr Tricia Bacon, PhD. is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3) in United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. She is an Associate Professor at the American University’s School of Public Affairs. She directs the Policy Anti-Terrorism Hub at the American University. Prior to her employment at the American University, Dr. Bacon worked on counterterrorism for over ten years at the Department of State, including in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Dr. Bacon is a non-resident fellow with George Washington University’s Program on Extremism and an associate fellow with the International Centre for Counter-terrorism. She serves in the Countering Terrorism and Extremism Program Advisory Council for the Middle East Institute and the editorial board of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and Terrorism and Political Violence. Her research focuses on behavior of terrorist and insurgent groups’ and decision-making, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and in the role of intelligence in national security decision-making. She recently published an article discussing a peace deal between the Taliban and the United States.

Mr Manav Saini

Research Assistants

Manav Saini is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3) at the United Service Institution of India (USI). He holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from South Asian University and Bachelor’s in Journalism & Mass Communications from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. He has previously worked at National Maritime Foundation as a Research Intern, and went through their teaching capsule on various Maritime domain facets. His research interests are Maritime security in Indo-Pacific, China’s foreign policy and its role in the Indo-Pacific region.

Tanya Jain

Research Assistants

Tanya Jain is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3), United Service Institution of India (USI). She holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science, along with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Delhi University. She has also pursued Diploma in International Affairs from Indian Institute of Leadership and Governance. Prior to her current role, Tanya worked with Netri Foundation as a communication intern building communication content for key stakeholders. She has published articles with the international Prism on various topics like Sudan crisis, India’s foreign policy post Modi and Indo-Srilanka Relation during economic crisis. Her research interests primarily revolve around South Asia and Southeast Asia.

CS3