BRIGADIER VIJAI K NAIR (RETIRED)

Dr. Nair retired from the Indian Army in 1991 after 30 years service, having been awarded the VSM for distinguished service. Besides three tenures of combat duty, in service experience includes: instructor - Defence Services Staff College, command of an Independent Armoured Brigade; and, Deputy Director General Strategic Planning at the Directorate of Perspective Planning at Army.  He was also a Member Army Experts Committee - 1989-90; Core staff officer to the Committee on Defence Expenditure 1990; and, headed numerous trial teams for evaluation of tactical, strategic, logistic and equipment management suitability of a wide range of tanks, anti-tank missiles. Currently he is the Life Trustee and on the Governing Body of the Forum for Strategic & Security Studies; Editor of the Forum’s Journal AGNI; and, Managing Director, Magoo Strategic Infotech Pvt Ltd.  An information service providing daily news updates and analyses on “Nuclear Agenda’s: International & Regional.”  Dr. Nair earned an M Sc. in Defence Studies and a Ph. D. in Political Science. He specializes in Nuclear Strategy formulation and nuclear arms control negotiations. He has considerable experience on issues related to NPT, CTBT and FMCT.  Dr. Nair is currently revising the nuclear strategy for India [in keeping with nuclear transience] suggested in his book “Nuclear India.”  Among his published works are two books and a monograph: “War In The Gulf: Lessons For The Third World” 1991; “Nuclear India, 1992; and, “NPT Extension Conference: Validity & Efficacy of NWS Initiatives,” 1994.  He has a number of articles and research papers published in a wide range of Journals and Dailies in India and abroad. He has also contributed Chapters to numerous Edited Books including “Armed Forces, Nuclear Weapons & China’s Foreign Policy. in India & Chinese Foreign Policies in Comparative Perspective” [Ed Surjit Mansingh]; “The Imperatives of a Credible Deterrent” [Amitabh Mattoo (Ed).  India’s Nuclear Deterrent: Pokharan II & Beyond. Har-Anand Publishers. 1998.].  He has also researched and compiled a series of monograms, which are circulated by the Forum for Strategic & Security Studies to policy makers in India.  He is currently on the Guest Faculty of the Foreign Services Institute.  After India instituted its economic liberalisation reforms, he headed a Consultancy service providing political business risk analysis to multi-national corporations in Europe that were interested in investing in India.  Dr. Nair is a member of: Life Trustee and Executive Director of The Forum for Strategic & Security Studies, he is also a member of: the United Services Institute of India, Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, the Habitat Centre [Delhi], International Network of Engineers & Scientists, and the Society for Peace, Security and Development (University of Allahabad).