Arun Mohanty, who holds a Ph.D degree in economics, is a Professor of Russian and Central Asian Studies at the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New -Delhi. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Russian Academy of Social Sciences named after Peter the Great and the Congress of Political Scientists of Russia. His primary research interests include Russian economic transformation, foreign and security policies of Russia, developments in Central Asia and Indo-Russian bilateral relations. A recipient of Russia’s prestigious Pushkin State Award, Mohanty is the director of Delhi-based Eurasian Foundation and Chief Editor of the research journal “Eurasian Report”. He has taught at various Russian universities and is closely associated with leading think tanks of Moscow. Mohanty, a member of the International Coordination Committee of the Vienna-based World Public Forum on Dialogue of Civilisations, has authored 10 books and contributed over a hundred articles to journals and edited volumes on developments in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).