Rao is Professor of Political Science and Director, Centre for Indian Ocean Studies, Osmania University, India. He obtained his Ph.D from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, in European Politics. He has been awarded the British Council, Fulbright and Ford Foundation Fellowships and has authored and edited: Globalization and New Regionalism in Indian Ocean (1997)Indian Ocean: Annotated; Bibliography (1998); Regional Cooperation in Indian Ocean, Trends and Perspectives (2001); India and Indian Ocean (2002); India and Australia: New Horizons (2003). He is Editor, Indian Ocean Survey and Indian Ocean Digest. He has published several articles in national and international journals on the EEC, Indian Ocean, American foreign policy and regional cooperation.