USI-CS3
Lieutenant General VG Khandare, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) was the Military Adviser at the National Security Council Secretariat PMO. His last appointment in active military service was Director General, Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence) from November 2015 to January 2018. He has been in active service in High Altitude Areas along the LAC, including at Doklam opposite China; on Siachen Glacier; and during the 1999 Indo-Pak Conflict in Naushera Sector along LOC; in Counter terrorism operations in Kashmir and North East India. As Military Adviser for three years he was at the decision-making processes for national security and international engagements.
Lieutenant General (Dr) RS Panwar, AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd) was commissioned into the Corps of Signals in 1976. He has commanded two logistics formations, an electronic warfare brigade and an armoured division signal regiment, as well as the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering. He is a graduate of the National Defence College and holds a master’s degree in management from Osmania University. He has the distinction of being awarded a doctoral degree in computer science as well as the coveted Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Bombay, the first defence officer to hold such an honour. He is presently engaged in evolving strategic thought in the areas of information operations, network-centric warfare and emerging disruptive technologies.
Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd) has held apex leadership and management positions in the Indian Army at the Army Headquarters in the Indian Defence Services for over 38 years. Among his many appointments, he has been Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Chief of Army Staff twice, while serving in the capacity of Military Secretary, responsible for HR management in the Army and as Director General Military Operations (DGMO) heading the Military Operation in the Army. General Bhatt has been the recipient of several awards from the Government of India. The most recent include the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2021) and other prestigious recognitions such as Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (2019), Ati Vishist Seva Medal (2015), Sena Medal (2014), Vishist Seva Medal (2012), Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card (2008) for his dedicated service to the nation. General Bhatt has a Master's in Management Studies from Osmania University and an M. Phil in Defence & Strategic Studies from the prestigious Madras University in Chennai. Lieutenant General AK Bhatt (Retd.) is the Director General of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an apex industry body created to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry. Currently, he is a Distinguished Fellow, United Services Institution of India.
Lieutenant General AK Singh, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd) was the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, Ex GOC in C Southern Command. He was an alumnus of NDA; Staff College Camberley, UK; Malinovsky Tank Academy, Moscow; & the Higher Command & National Defence College courses. He is one of the few officers to have trained with both the NATO & Warsaw Pact at the height of the Cold War. The General has the distinction of conceiving and executing some of the largest ever manoeuvres in recent times. He has tenanted key Operational appointments including Brigade Major of the Kargil Brigade, three appointments in the Military operations Directorate, headed the foreign division of the army & was also the Director General Perspective Planning. He has represented the armed forces at multiple forums, both national and international. The General has been decorated with numerous awards both related to defence as well as civil. The General is a frequent speaker at defence and civil forums and also contributes to the print media. Presently, he is an Independent Director and Advisor with various firms/educational institutions including O P Jindal Global University, where he also teaches two ‘Electives’ on “National Security Defence& Military Strategy”, and “Leadership “. The General is a distinguished fellow with Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and USI.
Lieutenant General (Dr) PC Nair, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd) LT Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, Ph.D, is a former Director General of Assam Rifles with a distinguished military career spanning nearly four decades. Commissioned into the SIKH Regiment in 1985, he commanded his battalion in operationally sensitive areas including the North East and Siachen Glacier. An alumnus of premier military and civil institutions, he served extensively in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and Sikkim, holding key command, instructional, intelligence, and staff appointments. Decorated with India’s highest peacetime service awards, he earned a Ph.D in 2022 on the North East and remains a noted specialist on the region.
Major General (Dr) AK Bardalai, VSM (Retd) was commissioned into the Indian Army on 11 June 1977, is a graduate of National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College Wellington (India), and an alumnus of Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He commanded an infantry battalion in Siachen Glacier, an infantry brigade in North-East India, an infantry division in the Western Theatre, and was the Commandant of IMTRAT(Bhutan). He has served with the UN as a Military Observer in Angola and as the Deputy Head of the Mission and Deputy Force Commander of UNIFIL (Lebanon). He holds a PhD in UN Peace Operations from Tilburg University.
Vice Admiral (Dr) AK Chawla, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, NM (Retd) superannuated on 30 November 2021 as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command. He has served as the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of India, Jakarta, Senior Instructor (Navy) at DSSC, Wellington, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation & Intelligence), Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy and Plans), Director General Naval Operations and the Chief of Personnel. He is a graduate of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, the Naval Higher Command Course, and the National Defence College. He has a MA (Defence Studies) from London University and a M Phil (Defence and Strategic Studies) from Bombay University, from where he is also currently pursuing his PhD. Highly decorated, he is a keen environmentalist and was awarded the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award in 2020. Currently, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the United Service Institution of India.
Air Marshal Anil Khosla, PVSM, AVSM, VM (Retd) is a former Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS), Indian Air Force. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force with experience in both Ground attack and Air Defence roles with a specialization in maritime roles. He is a postgraduate from Defence Services Staff College. He is an A2 category flying instructor and a fighter strike leader. He has had the distinction of standing first in the order of merit in all the attended courses (i.e., Flying Instructor Course, Fighter Strike Leaders Course, Junior Command Course and Staff Course). While in Service he handled the Doklam operation with China and Balakot strike against Pakistan. He is also associated with the formulation of Air Force War Plans, Force structure planning and capability building. He pursued M Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies and has a PhD on China. He is a Distinguished Fellow at USI and at the Centre of Air Power Studies (CAPS). He is also on the editorial board of College of Air Warfare Journal. He has worked with several think tanks and organisations.
Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM (Retd) a former Commandant of the National Defence College with over 5000 operational sorties on fighters, and extensive experience in air and joint operations at strategic, operational and tactical levels. Experienced in policy formulation, doctrine and strategy development, he has led three international exercises and been a member of two defence talks. An alumnus of the Royal College of Defence Studies UK, he has a MA in Strategy and International Security from King’s College, London, an M Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies, and a PhD in airpower. He is a distinguished fellow of VIF and CAPS, and an avid scholar, writer and speaker on strategy, airpower and national security.
Shri Asoke Mukerji, IFS (Retd) was retired as India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in December 2015. In July 2018, he was awarded a Doctor of Civil Laws (honoriscausa) degree by the University of East Anglia (UK). His book “India and the United Nations: A Photo Journey 1945-2015” was presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. He writes and lectures on diplomacy, geo-strategy, and cyber issues. He was an elected USI Council member (2017-2019) and is currently a Distinguished Fellow of USI, the Vivekananda International Foundation, and the Geneva/Malta-based Diplo Foundation.
Shri Anil Trigunayat, IFS (Retd) is a career Indian diplomat with over three decades of service across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, Russia, and the United States. He served as India’s Ambassador to Jordan, Libya, and Malta before retiring in 2016. Educated at Agra, Kumaon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Oxford University, he researched WTO and regional trading blocs. A prolific writer and commentator on foreign affairs, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, leading the West Asia Experts Group. He currently serves as an Independent Director on the WAPCOS Board and has authored and edited influential books on West Asian security dynamics.
Shri Tilak Devasher, IFS (Retd) retired as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India in October 2014. Tilak Devasher is the author of three widely acclaimed books on Pakistan: ‘Pakistan: Courting the Abyss’ (December 2016); ‘Pakistan: At the Helm’ (July 2018) and ‘Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum’ (July 2019). He has also edited two books for the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) titled ‘Pakistan Insights 2019’ and ‘Pakistan Insights 2020’. He is a Member of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), a Consultant at Vivekananda International Foundation, and an Emeritus Resource Faculty at Rashtriya Raksha University. Currently, he is a Distinguished Fellow at United Service Institution of India.
Dr Sanjaya Baru has been editor of India’s major financial newspapers and was Media Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2004-08. He served as Director for Geo-economics and Strategy, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2011-16), and has lectured at National Defence College, Indian School of Public Policy, University of Hyderabad and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. He was member of India’s National Security Advisory Board in 1999-2001 and is Founder-Trustee, Forum for National Security Studies, India. He was a member of the India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Group, 2010. His publications include The Strategic Consequences of India’s Economic Rise (2006); India and the World: Essays on Geo-economics and Foreign Policy (2016); India’s Power Elite: Caste, Class and a Cultural Revolution, (Penguin Viking, 2021). He is a Distinguished Fellow, at USI.
Dr Ajai Sahni is the executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, the South Asia Terrorism Portal & Khalistan Extremism Monitor; publisher & editor, South Asia Intelligence Review, FAULTLINES: KPS Gill Journal of Conflict & Resolution. He served as a member of the (Madhukar Gupta) Committee on the Restructuring of the Ministry of Home Affairs and of the Police Modernisation and Strengthening Committee, Uttar Pradesh. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the United Services Institution of India. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments.
Col (Dr) KK Sharma (Retd) served in Army Air Defence in various locations including the Glaciers, and retired from the position of Chief Instructor, Tactical and Combat Wing, Army Air Defence College. He is a Professor and Dean in Global Education Programs, Chitkara University. He is an OB and HR student, with an experience in leadership positions in the Indian Army, UN Peace Operations and with the UNHCR. His academic teaching and research experience spans from 1985, till now, in multiple positions at national and global levels. Further, he has a PhD in Management (Zurich) and he has also done his MBA (HRM). He has authored six books, 26 research papers and presented papers in many national and international seminars and conferences. Presently, he is a Visiting Fellow at United Service Institution of India.
USI-CMHCS
Mr AN McClenaghan has interest in Indian military history which started over 50 years ago. For many years he helped nurture the Indian Military Historical Society, serving at various times as Secretary, Editor and Treasurer. He has published three major works focussing on the Armies of the former Indian States - Indian Princely Medals (Delhi: Lancer, 1996); with the late Richard Head The Maharajas’ Paltans – a History of the Indian State Forces 1888-1948 (Delhi: USII/Manohar, January 2013); and For the Honour of My House – the contribution of the Indian Princely States to the First World War (Warwick: Helion & Company Ltd, 2019). He has contributed chapters to two other books as well as a number of journal articles. His most recent work, Reconstitution: The formation of the Armies of India and Pakistan – August 1947 (Military Historical Society, 2022) detailed the partition of the old Indian Army at Independence and led to the award of the Society’s Lummis Cup for 2023. He has spoken at a number of literary festivals and conferences. He was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of USI-CAFHR in 2019 and in December 2022 the USI Council awarded him the Maharana Pratap Chair of Excellence 2023-24. He continues to research and write on various aspects of Indian military history and is currently engaged in a joint USI-National Army Museum (London) project to document as much as can be found on the insignia of the pre-Independence Indian Army, including badges, buttons and shoulder titles.
Professor Peter Stanley is one of Australia’s most distinguished and productive military historians. He was formerly the first and so far only Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, Australia’s national military museum, where he worked from 1980 to 2007, and then headed the Research Centre at the National Museum of Australia. In 2011 his book Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny, Murder and the Australian Imperial Force jointly won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History. Soon after, Peter became the first and so far only Research Professor at the University of New South Wales, Canberra (2013-23). Peter has published over 45 books, mainly in the field of Australian military history, including Tarakan: an Australian Tragedy (1997), Quinn’s Post, Anzac, Gallipoli (2005), Invading Australia (2008), Men of Mont St Quentin (2009) and Beyond The Broken Years (2024); the first history of the writing of Australian military history. He has also published in the fields of medical history (For Fear of Pain, 2003), battlefield research (A Stout Pair of Boots, 2008) and bushfire history (Black Saturday at Steels Creek, 2013), and eight historical novels (Simpson’s Donkey, 2011, The Sherrin, 2025, and the ‘Mansergh’ series, 2014-22). He has also published in British Indian military history, including White Mutiny (1998), Die in Battle, Do not Despair: the Indians on Gallipoli, 1915 (2015), Terriers in India: British Territorials 1914-19 (2019), Hul! Hul!: The Suppression of the Santal Rebellion (2022) and John Company’s Armies: the Military Forces of British India 1824-57. Peter is a frequent and trenchant commentator on military history in the media.
Dr Dominiek Dendooven is a historian specialized in the First World War. For more than 25 years he was a researcher and curator at the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, Belgium, and he also taught a course on the First World War at the University of Leuven. He curated a large number of exhibitions, including on the Indian presence in the First World War, in both Belgium and India, and has published a number of contributions and books on the Indian Army in that war. In 2018 Dominiek Dendooven obtained a PhD at the universities of Kent (UK), and Antwerp (Belgium) with a dissertation on the war experiences of Asian servicemen in Europe during the First World War. It was published in 2021 as ‘Asia in Flanders Fields. Indians and Chinese on the Western front, 1914-1920’. He is an associated research fellow of the School of History of the University of Kent, and was created an Officer in the Order of Leopold by the King of Belgium
Dr Santanu Das was formerly a Research Fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge and currently a Reader in English at King’s College London. He is the author of Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature (Cambridge, 2006) which was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize and the editor of Race, Empire and First World War Writing (Cambridge, 2011) and the Cambridge Companion to First World War Poetry (2013, forthcoming). He has published extensively on India and the Great War and his monograph India, Empire and the First World War: A Cultural History is coming out with Cambridge University Press in 2014/2015. Currently, he is leading a three-year European collaborative research project on ‘Cultural Exchange in the Time of Global Crisis: Colonials, Belligerents and Neutrals in the First World War.
Professor Radhika Singha, taught modern and contemporary Indian history at Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi till her retirement in 2021. Her research interests focus on crime and criminal law in colonial India, and on colonial identification technologies, protocols and practices. On an intersecting track she has also worked on themes related to labour history and to borders and border-crossing. These interests came together in a book titled The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict 1914-1921 (Hurst 2000) which highlighted the importance of Indian non-combatant labour to the military infrastructure of empire. It suggested that a focus on so-called “coolies” and “menial followers” gives us a more textured sense of India’s geo-political location in World War one, than narratives which are too Eurocentric or Punjab- centric. This project extended her academic association with the United Services Institution, India, and that of her students of the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU. She feels honoured by her nomination to the position of Distinguished Fellow of this institution. , In October 2023 Radhika Singha was alsso made an honorary Fellow of the American Society for Legal History. She is currently visiting faculty at the Department of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida (January 2024 to May 2025).
Dr Edward S. Haynes, holds graduate degrees from Duke University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, specialising in modern South Asian history and civilisation, modern Eastern history and civilisation, as well as Asian, Non-Western, and world history and civilizations. A prolific scholar, Edward has authored numerous articles and publications and has presented papers at various international events. Notably, Edward S. Haynes delivered the inaugural lecture of the Centre for Armed Forces and Historical Research in Feb 2002 at the United service Institution of India, Delhi.
He is a member of the history department faculty at Winthrop University (USA), member of the Orders and Medals Research Society and of the Orders and Medals Society of America. He is also a Member of Secretariat, U.S.-Libyan Dialogue Group and Member of Board of Directors, Libyan-American Friendship Association.
Air Marshal Vikram Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) is a former fighter pilot from the IAF. He initially flew the MiG 21 bis and Mirage 2000. As a Test Pilot he carried out initial technology demonstration test flights on the Prototype LCA Tejas aircraft and carried out the first supersonic test flight in 2002. In his 40-year career he flew over 35 different types and tenanted several Operational command and staff appointments retiring as Commander in Chief in 2023. He was also deputed as the Air Attache’ Embassy of India Moscow in 2011. He has thrice been awarded by the President for his distinguished service to the nation. His interests range from classic vintage aircraft, aviation art, one of his air combat paintings being used as a postage stamp, and aviation history. He has written extensively for the internet and published “Spitfires in the Sun” A history if the iconic Spitfire in IAF service in 2014. His second book “Because of this’ is a three-lakh word, almost forensic study of the 1971 Indo-Pak Air War is just out.
Mr Jagan Pillarisetti, is an author and a leading historian of the Indian Air Force. He is the co-author of two books on the IAF's air wars - "The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965" (Manohar, 2005) and "Eagles over Bangladesh" (Harper Collins, 2013). In 2007, He was awarded a ‘Chief of Air Staff Commendation’ by the Indian Air Force for his contributions to IAF history, which is a rare honour for civilian historians. Jagan maintains a presence on the internet as the co-editor of the Bharat-Rakshak.com defence portal. (since 1999). He also catalogs the vintage aircraft scene in India through his website "Warbirds of India". The "Westland Wapiti in the IAF" is his first book devoted to the pre-Independence era. Originally from Hyderabad, Jagan is currently living in Delaware, United States along with his family members, wife Swarna and two daughters Avantika and Nayanika.
Colonel Pradeep Kumar Gautam (Retd) is a war veteran of 1971 (Bangladesh), a former Research Fellow at the IDSA and later a consultant to the project ‘Indigenous Historical Knowledge.’ He is the co-editor and contributor of the institute’s three volume series Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary. He has written extensively on environmental security, non-traditional security, water, climate change, military affairs, and Tibet. He has authored chapters, articles and three monographs on Kautilya’s Arthashastra, one each on Kamandaka’s Nitisara, The Kural and The Sukraniti(forthcoming). He is a subject matter expert, educator and mentor on Kautilya’s Arthashastra, The Kural, and Panchatantra for the Indian Cultural Study Forum, College of Defence Management (CDM), Secunderabad. He has given presentations on Kautilya, The Kural, Panchatantra, and Indian Strategic Thought at the Army War College for Higher Command Courses, Higher Defence Management Courses at CDM, School of IR and Strategic Studies Mumbai University, Centre for the Study of Global IR at OP Jindal University, Rashtriya Raksha University, Symbiosis International University Pune and various internship capsules. In December 2023 he gave four recorded lectures from Delhi University based on-line Faculty Development Programme on the theme ‘Revisiting Kautilya Arthashastra: Relevance for Contemporary Polity and Economy. He is a founder member of project ‘Udbhav: Evolution of Strategic and Military Thought’ conceived at the CMHCS/USI jointly with the Indian Army launched on 21 October 2023 at the Indian Military Heritage Festival at New Delhi
Centre for Emerging Technology for Atma Nirbhar Bharat (CETANB)
Dr Subi, is a distinguished strategic advisory, public policy, corporate affairs and communications professional with over two decades of industry experience across areas such as digital economy, banking, telecom & internet services, media & entertainment, entrepreneurship, startups, deepening democracy, sustainability & diversity working with governments, MNCs, international organisations and multilateral institutions in leadership roles. She has served as a Member of the UN Internet Governance Forum (MAG), appointed by the UN Secretary General, Global Co-Chair of the Net Mundial Initiative, as well as on the Boards of the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), & IGFSA. She has assisted bilateral negotiations between sovereign nations culminating in MoUs in the areas of ICT, financial, digital and health services worth over $100 mn. She currently serves as the Global SVP, Chief Corporate Affairs & Public Policy Officer, Inmobi, India's first unicorn and now a double unicorn with Glance also notching up incredible growth in less than two years since its inception.
Centre for United Nations Studies (CUNS)
Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Singha AVSM, VSM (Retd) is presently working as Director with TAC Security, a leading global cyber security company. He regularly writes for USI and e-magazines like lokmarg.com and news18.com on strategic issues and international relations. General Singha has acted in several OTT series like Avrodh, Regimental Diaries, General and his Son and A General Retires. He is an advisor on military matters to Pocket Aces. A peacekeeping and negotiations expert, as Head of the Mission at Golan Heights in Syria, he has saved nearly 200 lives of peacekeepers and journalists. Currently, he is a Distinguished Fellow at United Service Institution of India.
Maj Gen Alok Deb, SM, VSM (Retd)
Maj Gen Alok Deb, SM, VSM (Retd) has served in the Indian Army close to four decades. He has experience of command in diverse operational areas, commencing with an artillery regiment in the Kargil War, during which he was decorated for gallantry. He is a MSc in Defence Studies from the Defence Services Staff College, India, and later earned two MPhil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies, after qualifying the Higher Command and National Defence College courses, both in India. He has been an instructor at IMA Dehradun, Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and Col Plans of a Strike Corps. He has had two tenures in the Military Secretary’s Branch in Army HQ and has served as a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon. He has commanded an Artillery Division as part of a Strike Corps on India’s Western border and was a Senior Operational Logistics Staff in the Western Theatre. Post retirement he became the Deputy Director General of MPIDSA. He was a member of the DRDOs System Analysis and Modelling Advisory Council. He is based in Pune, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the USI of India and Senior Visiting Fellow at The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai.
Major General AK Bardalai (Retd)
Col (Dr) KK Sharma (Retd)
Lieutenant General (Retd) Jabir Lidder was commissioned in 3 Grenadiers in June 1969, the battalion he fought the 1971 War with and later commanded. He commanded a brigade on the line of control, counter insurgency force in South Kashmir and served as Commandant Infantry School. The officer is a graduate of the Defense Services Staff College Wellington, the Higher Command Course and the National Defense College. General has rich UN experience in both military and political spectrum. He was Military Chief of Staff of the UN Mission in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) in 1994-95. He later served as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) from January 2006 to May 2008, where he played the pivotal role in redeploying the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to either side of Line 1/1/56. Post-retirement, as DSRSG (P) of the same mission based at Juba, he coordinated the political processes resulting in the birth of The Republic of South Sudan on 09 Jul 2011. General is actively engaged with UN offices and global institutions as an author, mentor and trainer.