Executive Vice President, India Foundation, India

Alok Bansal is the executive vice president of India Foundation and has been its director since 2014. He is also the secretary general of Asian-Eurasian Human Rights Forum, an organization with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) status. He was a member of the planning board of the territory of Ladakh and a visiting professor at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. As the founding executive director of the South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs, he was the facilitator of India Policy Group on Afghanistan for Track II Dialogues, which were supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Mr. Bansal was executive director of the National Maritime Foundation for two years and a senior fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies for three years. He has worked with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses for 5 years. He served in the Indian navy for 32 years and commanded two warships. He holds an MPhil in defense and strategic studies and a PhD in international relations. He has participated in various Track II Dialogues, authored or edited 10 books, written more than 50 research papers, and lectured across the globe.