Ambassador Pankaj Saran earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hindu College, Delhi University, and his Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 1982. He is the Convenor of NatStrat, a Delhi-based independent Center for Research on Strategic and Security Issues, and a commentator and consultant on security and strategic matters. With forty years of experience in foreign, strategic, and national security affairs, he has served in key positions within the Government of India, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Security Council Secretariat, the Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian Missions in Moscow, Dhaka, Washington DC, Cairo, and Geneva. He was India’s Ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2018 and India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh from 2012 to 2015. Between 1995 and 2012, he worked in different capacities in the Prime Minister’s Office under five different Prime Ministers for nine years, contributing to decision-making at the highest levels across a diverse range of sectors including foreign affairs, national security, energy, finance, commerce, science and technology, electronics, telecommunications, space, atomic energy, and defence policy. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Affairs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the National Security Council Secretariat, dealing with regional and global strategy formulation for the country. He has participated in and organized several international negotiations and summit-level meetings in India and around the world. Ambassador Saran has also written for The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and The Economic Times, among other newspapers and journals.