Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar serves as an executive council member at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, the president of the Institute of Global Studies and a distinguished fellow at the Ananta Aspen Centre. He is a leading expert on international relations and foreign policy, writing often on these topics and appearing frequently on television panel discussions. 

The former ambassador of India to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, Ambassador Sajjanhar has worked in senior diplomatic positions in Indian embassies and missions in Brussels, Moscow, Geneva, Tehran, Dhaka, Bangkok and Washington, DC. His work was recognized with national awards from the governments of Kazakhstan and Latvia, and he earned the title of “Ambassador of Peace” by the Universal Peace Federation. Ambassador Sajjanhar negotiated for India in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and in India-EU, India-ASEAN and India-Thailand Free Trade Agreements. He is also credited with strengthening strategic and economic ties and promoting cultural cooperation between India and the US, EU, and Russia, among others.  

In India, Ambassador Sajjanhar worked as the head of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony to promote amity and understanding between different religions, faiths and beliefs. He also served in the Indian Foreign Service for 34 years.