Distinguished Fellows
Swapan Dasgupta
Shri 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.
Come Carpentier
Come Carpentier has been, since 2003, the convener of the International Editorial Board of World Affairs - The Journal of International Issues. He has travelled and lectured in more than fifty countries. in universities and institutions of Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has written and co-authored several books and more than 200 articles and essays on subjects related to philosophy of science, geopolitics, international relations and the history of civilisations in more than thirty journals, newspapers and magazines in France, India, Italy, the USA, Russia and Switzerland. He was associated for many years with the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilisations as a member of the founding association and a regular guest and speaker on that platform. He is a member of the Advisory Sub-Committee of the Paris-Berlin-Moscou Committee and an advisor to the International League of Phoenician , Chananean and Punic Cities (Lebanon). He has been a consultant to various American and European high-tech corporations and was between 1992 and 1999 the Secretary of the Tissot Economic Foundation (Switzerland). He initiated at the India Foundation the international conference on exploring consciousness - The Man-Machine Debate (Non-Duality to Non-Locality) held at NIMHANS, Bangaluru in September 2022. The next edition will be held at the University of Padova in Italy in February 2024.
Rami Niranjan Desai
Rami Niranjan Desai is an author, anthropologist and researcher with subject expertise in the north east region of India and India’s neighborhood. She has studied at King’s College, London where she received her degrees in Anthropology of religion and Theology. Rami has spent over two decades studying insurgency, ethnic armed organisations, religion and identity issues. Her vast repository of work is based on her groundbreaking fieldwork over the years in the northeast region and in India’s neighborhood such as Myanmar. She is also well known for her research and analysis and is invited regularly by private and government organisations as a subject expert. She has also collaborated and published books on various occasions with organisations and universities such as Manipur University and Indira Gandhi National Tribal University. She regularly writes for various journals and national publications such as India Today, Open Magazine and has a weekly column called “Ramification” in Firstpost. She is also a regular television panelist appearing on all major English and Hindi news channels. As Distinguished Fellow at India Foundation she focusses on current affairs, the northeast region of India and the neighbourhood. She also curates India Foundation’s flagship event India Ideas Conclave and podcast Insight while leading other significant initiatives.
Prabha Rao
Ms. Prabha Rao is Executive Director, South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs and Distinguished Scholar at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. She is a former IPS officer from Karnataka cadre (1982 batch) who went on a deputation to cabinet secretariat and served in several locations abroad. She also runs an NGO — Encourage India, for skilling victims of trafficking and left-wing extremism.
A B Mathur
Shri Mathur, a retired Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (2012) and former Head of the UN Mission in North Korea (2012–2014), is currently a Member of the National Security Advisory Board. With nearly five decades of experience, he has worked extensively on national security, conflict resolution, strategic communication, and regional diplomacy, especially in India's neighbourhood including Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the North East. As a peace interlocutor, he played a key role in reintegrating insurgents and fostering stability. An officer of the 1975 batch of the Indian Police Service, he has also served in Indian embassies in Belgium and Pakistan, and has been honoured with medals by both the President and Prime Minister of India.
Sonu Trivedi
Dr. Sonu Trivedi is Associate Professor, Political Science at Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi and Distinguished Fellow, India Foundation, New Delhi. She was on deputation as Director, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Embassy of India, Seoul from Sept. 2019–March 2023. Before moving to the diplomatic assignment at Seoul, she was a Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi (April 2018–Sept 2019). She was also a Visiting Fellow at Institute of Asia Pacific Studies, CASS, Beijing (2011); Member of Myanmar Core Group at ICWA (2014); Visiting faculty at IIM, Indore (2015–16); Convenor, Southeast Asia Research Group at Department of Political Science, University of Delhi and Founder Director, Centre for Vietnam Studies, New Delhi. She was the recipient of ‘Medal of Friendship’ conferred by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 2021 and Award from Embassy of Vietnam, New Delhi for her contributions in promoting relations between India and Vietnam in 2018. She has several publications to her credit, most significant being book titled ‘Transition from Authoritarianism to Democracy: Comparative Study of Indonesia and Myanmar’ and ‘Democratisation in Myanmar: Progress and Prospects’. She has also co-edited a book with Shri Shakti Sinha titled ‘Emerging Horizons in India-Vietnam Relations.’
Swadesh Singh
Dr. Swadesh Singh is an author, columnist, teacher and activist. He holds a PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and PG Diploma in Mass Communications from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi. During India's Presidency of G20, he looked after the Civil20 forum which is responsible for the civil society sector. He has visited 15 countries to participate in leadership summits, workshops and seminars. Recently he represented India at BRICS Expert School in Russia. He has 4 books to his credits - 'Modian Consensus, The Rediscovery of Bharat', 'Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Bharat's Quest for Ram-Rajya', 'Aatmanribharta: Revisiting the Idea and Practices', and 'Electoral Reforms: Ushering a Just Political Regime'. Dr. Swadesh Singh runs an academic forum named 'Academics For Nation'. He teaches Political Science at Satyawati College, University of Delhi. His core areas of interest are Political Parties, Social Justice, Caste, Dalit, Hindutva and Media.
Karuna Gopal
Ms. Karuna Gopal is an internationally acclaimed Thought Leader, Futurist, and Keynote Speaker, and the Founder President of Foundation for Futuristic Cities, a think tank driving urban transformation in India for over two decades. Her work focuses on the intersection of technology, innovation, and future cities. She has represented India at global forums including the CLGC 2023 (Rwanda), BRICS Innovation Forum 2023 (Moscow), and COP21 UNFCCC (Paris). A key contributor to India's 100 Smart Cities Mission, her innovation “Sculpt Your City” (2009) was declared a national best practice and helped shape the mission’s guidelines.Ms. Gopal has served as an Urban Expert for the World Bank, DFID, USAID, and ADB, and regularly lectures at premier institutions like LBSNAA, WBI, and ASCI. She has delivered over 100 keynote addresses globally, including at Harvard University’s Asia Business Conference (2020). She currently heads the Policy Research Division for Women in BJP and serves on the Board of Engineers India Ltd under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.