Kesavan is currently a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi. He is in charge of the Japanese Studies programme at ORF. He was professor of Japanese Studies on the faculty of the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, for over thirty years. Author of several books on Japan, he has also written numerous research papers in Indian and foreign academic journals on Japan's foreign policy and domestic politics. He has been a visiting professor/fellow at several universities in Japan and the US. In 2001, he received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation Award for his contribution to closer understanding between India and Japan.