is President of the ‘Centre for China Analysis and Strategy’. He has twice been a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) (2013-2015 & 2023-2025). He retired as Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India in August 2008. He has specialised for over 45 years in analysing developments relating to China, Tibet and East Asia and his foreign assignments include Hong Kong, Beijing and Washington DC. He obtained a Diploma of Advanced Proficiency in Chinese from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Certificate and Diploma in Mandarin from the University of Hong Kong. He was conferred both the highest awards of the Organisations out of turn. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), New Delhi and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi. He is also a Member of the Core Group on China of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). He is author of ‘China Unveiled: Insights into Chinese Strategic Thinking’, ‘Xi Jinping’s China’; ‘Cadres of Tibet’; and ‘Xi Jinping: China’s Third New Era’. He is also Editor of ‘Strategic Challenges: India 2030’.