Shri. Pankaj Saran is a former ambassador and diplomat with forty years of experience in foreign, strategic and national security affairs. He has served in key positions within the Government of India in the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Security Council Secretariat, the Ministry of External Affairs and in several Indian Missions abroad. He is a Member of the National Security Advisory Board. He is the Convenor of NatStrat, a Delhi-based independent Centre for Research on Strategic and Security Issues and a Distinguished Fellow of the National Maritime Foundation. He is a distinguished member of the Advisory Council for Chair Professorship in International Relations at Chanakya University, Bengaluru.
He has served as India’s ambassador to Russia, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and as Head of the Northern Division in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with Nepal and Bhutan.He has worked in different capacities with successive Indian Prime Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Office, contributing to decision-making at the highest levels in a diverse range of sectors, including foreign affairs and national security. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Affairs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dealing with regional and global strategy formulation, including maritime security and Arctic affairs, neighbourhood policy and technology and economic security. He is also a regular commentator and writer on foreign affairs, security and strategic issues.