C Raja Mohan appointed director of Motwani Jadeja Institute for American Studies

New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Distinguished foreign policy scholar and strategic affairs expert C Raja Mohan has been appointed director and professor of the Motwani Jadeja Institute for American Studies (MJIAS) at OP Jindal Global University (JGU) in Haryana’s Sonipat, officials said on Monday.

Mohan is regarded as one of India’s prominent scholars and commentators on international relations, Indian foreign policy, Asian geopolitics and India-US relations.

During his academic and public policy career, he has held senior positions at leading universities, think tanks and policy institutions in India, Singapore and the United States.

“I am delighted to take up this appointment and contribute to the next phase of MJIAS. The India-US relationship is undergoing

a profound transformation amid new challenges and possibilities in a changing global order.

“There is a need for deeper bilateral conversations on trade, energy, defence, science, technology, innovation and education,” Mohan was quoted as saying in the university in a university statement.

He has served as the founding director of Carnegie India; director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore; professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University; Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in International Affairs at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. He has also served on India’s National Security Advisory Board.

Mohan holds a Master’s degree in nuclear physics and a PhD in international relations. His books include Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India’s New Foreign Policy, Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order, Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, Modi’s World: Expanding India’s Sphere of Influence and The New Asian Geopolitics: Military Power and Regional Order.

“His scholarship has contributed significantly to debates on Indian foreign and security policy, great-power relations, maritime strategy and Asian geopolitics,” the university said.

MJIAS was established at the university through the vision and generous endowment of Asha Jadeja Motwani, a philanthropist and venture capitalist focused on strengthening intellectual, educational, technological and people-to-people engagement between India and the United States, according to the statement.

“MJIAS is dedicated to building enduring intellectual bridges between the two countries and advancing understanding of the evolving India-US partnership,” it said.

Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and Co-Chairperson of the Board of MJIAS, said, “Mohan is one of India’s most respected thinkers on foreign policy, geopolitics and India-US relations, and his intellectual leadership will greatly enrich MJIAS.

“I look forward to working with him and the Board to build MJIAS as an influential intellectual bridge between India and the United States,” he said.

Under Mohan’s leadership, MJIAS will pursue a sustained programme of basic and original research, with particular emphasis on three critical vectors shaping the India — US partnership — Defence, Technology and Energy, the statement said.

Its publications will include commissioned research papers, policy briefs, essays and a proposed “Focus on America” research series.

He will also lead The America Roundtable, a regular closed-door forum bringing together scholars, diplomats, policymakers, business leaders, journalists and strategic thinkers for candid conversations on developments in the United States and their implications for India and the world, it said. PTI GJS RHL