Lt Gen (Dr) VK Ahluwalia, PVSM, AVSM**, YSM, VSM (Retd) | Director, CLAWS
In a career that spanned over 40 years in the Indian Army, Lt Gen (Dr.) VK Ahluwalia retired as the Army Commander, Central Command in 2012. Thereafter, he served as a Member, Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), Jaipur – Jodhpur Benches, for four years, presently he is the Director CLAWS. Amongst the highest decorated generals, he commanded an Infantry Brigade in Uri Sector (2001-02), Mountain Division in Kargil (2005-06) and Corps in Leh-Ladakh Sector (2008-09). He was the first Indian Brigadier to attend the National Defence Course (NDC), at Dhaka (Bangladesh), in 2003. As a young helicopter pilot, he was based in Srinagar and Leh, where he flew extensively in the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region. A pioneer of Bofors Guns, he was the first batch of officers to be trained in Sweden, and raising the first sub unit of the Bofors guns of Indian Army in 1986-87.
While commanding the formation in Kargil, his Division was awarded the BNHS National Green Governance Award 2005 by the Prime Minister of India, for conceiving and implementing the unique concept, ‘Operation Green Curtain’. As a Brig, he was responsible for the deployment of Indian troops on UN missions abroad. He was the Director General Military Training (DGMT) for three years. A Doctorate in ‘Internal Security and Conflict Resolution’, he has also authored a book, Red Revolution 2020 and Beyond, and co-edited Surprise, Strategy and ‘Vijay’: 20 Years of Kargil and Beyond and COVID-19 & Its Challenges: Is India Future Ready?
Maj Gen PK Chakravorty, VSM (Retd) | Veteran Senior Fellow, CLAWS
Major General (Dr.) PK Chakravorty, VSM (Retd), is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. He held various prestigious appointments as: former Deputy Director General of Perspective Planning Directorate, Defence Attaché to Vietnam and Additional Director General Artillery at Army Headquarters; and post retirement was an Advisor to BrahMos Aerospace. Maj Gen Chakravorty holds a Ph.D degree. Maj Gen Chakravorty has authored two books entitled: Fire Power 2030 (New Delhi: KW Publishers) and Assessment of Chinese Military Modernisation and its implications for India (New Delhi: Pentagon Press); and has edited the book on Future of Land Warfare: Beyond the Horizon (New Delhi: Pentagon Press). Major General Chakravorty’s main areas of interest are geo-strategy, firepower procurement, issues on which he has organized and participated in numerous seminars at national and international levels.
Dr. Jyoti M. Pathania | Senior Fellow, CLAWS
Dr. Jyoti M. Pathania, is working as a Senior Fellow and Chairperson Outreach committee at Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New-Delhi. A doctorate in Political Science, she graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in Political Science (Honors) and secured the Third rank in Delhi University. She obtained her M.A. and M.Phil degree in International Politics from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was selected to go on a scholarship to the European Peace University in Austria, Spain, and Ireland, where she pursued another Masters in advanced studies in ‘Peace and Conflict Studies. She has over 20 years of teaching, training and research experience in various universities: to name a few; Symbiosis Law College Pune, Amity Law School Delhi, Centre for Strategic and Regional Studies, Jammu University, Jiwaji University Gwalior, St. Xavier’s College Ranchi and also worked as an analyst for South Asian Analysis Group and was also the Assistant Director of the Amity Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
She has also qualified for National Eligibility Test lectureship. Recipient of various awards and scholarships, to name a few, Prof. Randhir Singh Award for securing distinction in Political Theory, Prof. N. N. Aggarwal Memorial Award, Austrian Govt. Development Scholarship, H.P. State Govt. Scholarship, National Talent Scheme Scholarship, Delhi University. She was also awarded by the Chief Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat for excellence in research and establishing collaboration with international research institutes. She has authored books and written articles for various newspapers and journals both national and international. She is also the founding editor of the Online Indian Journal of Peace & Conflict Resolution. Her book on India- Pakistan: Confidence Building Measures was one of the first few books on the subject. Her areas of specialization are International Politics, Conflict Resolution & Peace, Non-Traditional Security, and South Asia.
Dr. Amrita Jash | Research Fellow, CLAWS
Dr. Amrita Jash is Research Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi. She is a recipient of the prestigious Pavate Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Currently, she is the Managing Editor of CLAWS Journal. She holds a Ph.D in Chinese Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She received the Chief of the Army Staff (Indian Army), General Bipin Rawat’s commendation in 2019 for contributing to the field of Chinese Studies.
Dr. Jash has been a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Cambridge; a UGC Graduate Fellow (2012-2017); a researcher under Harvard-Yenching-Nanching Programme (2015); a researcher under China’s Ministry of Commerce (2014); and a US-INDIA-CHINA Initiative Fellow SAIS-Johns Hopkins University (2013). She has authored the book titled The Concept of Active Defence in China’s Military Strategy (Pentagon Press, 2021), and has co-edited a book on COVID-19 & Its Challenges: Is India Future Ready?(Pentagon Press, 2020).
Dr. Jash studies China’s foreign policy, the PLA, and security and strategic issues related to: India-China, China-Japan and the Indo-Pacific.
Dr. Manjari Singh | Associate Fellow, CLAWS
Dr. Manjari Singh is Associate Fellow at Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). She obtained her doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for her thesis on Sustainable Development in Jordan: A Study of Social, Economic and Environmental Dimensions. Dr. Singh is a Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) Fellow Her research papers have appeared in international journals such as Contemporary Review of the Middle East, Mediterranean Quarterly, and Migration and Development and others. She has co-authored a book titled Persian Gulf 2018: India’s Relations with the Region (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan) and has co-edited two books on Islamic Movements in the Middle East: Ideologies, Practices and Political Participation (New Delhi: Knowledge World) and Challenges to National Security: Young Scholars’ Perspective (New Delhi: Pentagon Press) She also served as Assistant Editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East (New Delhi: Sage Publications) and Managing Editor, CLAWS Journal (New Delhi: KW Publishers). Dr. Singh concentrates on Middle Eastern Affairs, India-Middle East Relations, Gulf Studies, Non-traditional Securities, and Sustainable Development.