Governing Council

President, ICCR Government of India
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra since July 2016. Dr Sahasrabuddhe is the President at Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He looks after the Good Governance, Central and State Government Program Coordination and Policy Research Department at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)as its National Vice President.

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Swapan Dasgupta is a Former Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of India’s Parliament. He is one of India’s most widely read political columnists for the past three decades. Having worked in almost all the leading publications in India in senior editorial positions, he has been an independent columnist since 2003. In 2015 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India.

Member of the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
Ambassador Preeti Saran is currently a Member of the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). She was formerly worked as Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. She joined the MEA in 1982, and has most recently served as Ambassador of India to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. She has also undertaken diplomatic postings to Toronto, Geneva, Cairo, Dhaka and Moscow. In New Delhi, she has served as Joint Secretary (SAARC/North), Deputy Secretary / Director (Establishment) / East Asia, and Under Secretary (ICCR/AMS).

Former Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs, India
Amar Sinha joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1982. He is an Economics Graduate from Patna University and has worked with the State Bank of India for two years before joining the Indian Foreign Service. During his diplomatic career spanning 35 years, he has served in various capacities in Algiers, Buenos Aires Washington DC, Jakarta and Brussels. He also served as Ambassador in Tajikistan and Afghanistan besides several tours of duty in India in different ministries. After his retirement Government appointed him to the Board of HPCL as Independent Director (2017-2020) and on the National Security Advisory Board (Jan 2019-Dec 2020) Currently he is distinguished fellow in a think tank RIS and on the Board of Governors of India Foundation. He is also associated with the Vivekananda Foundation and other think tanks besides the CII’s international council.

Former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command
(UYSM, SM, VSM, ADC)
Arun Kumar Sahni is a decorated, scholar – soldier, with 40 years of commissioned service in the Indian Army. In his last assignment, tenanting the second highest rank of the army, he was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army.In addition to his Command assignments of leading military formations, his important staff appointments include ‘Chief Operations Officer’ of an Infantry Brigade in Sri Lanka as part of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), Colonel General Staff responsible for operations of a Counter Insurgency Force in Jammu & Kashmir, ‘Principal Staff officer’ at Army Headquarters, Delhi,and ‘Director General Information Technology.

National Vice President, BJP
Shri Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is the National Vice President and Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has been a four time Member of Parliament of India. He has also been associated with the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians from its founding in 2001 and was its Chairman for fifteen years. He was awarded the “Bharat Asmita National Award” for best parliamentary practices by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India in 2008. He has been closely associated with several Track II initiatives including the Chaophraya Dialogue and India-US Strategic Dialogue.

MD, Zeus Caps
Shaurya Doval is a Managing Director of Zeus Caps, where he leads the principal investment initiatrrives and deal originations in India. Mr. Doval is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a joint MBA Degree from London Business School and University of Chicago.