Emeritus Fellows

Amb C V Ranganathan (b. 1935) served as India's ambassador to China between 1987 and 1991 when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's landmark visit to Beijing took place. His diplomatic assignments also include the ambassadorship to France. He has been a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow from 1998 till 2000. 

Ravi Bhoothalingam, is an Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. His interests lie in the Chinese economy, history, and Confucianism. Mr. Bhoothalingam holds a B.Sc Hons in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and an M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Cambridge University, United Kingdom. He has also pursued an Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School. Under the mentorship of renowned scientist and sinologist Joseph Needham, Mr. Bhoothalingam received specialized training in psycholinguistics, scientific Method, and Chinese culture. Throughout his career, Mr. Bhoothalingam has held prominent leadership positions in various fields both in India and abroad. He has served as the President of The Oberoi Group of Hotels, the Head of Personnel Worldwide with BAT plc in London, the Managing Director of VST Industries Ltd. in Hyderabad, and the Director of ITC Ltd. in Kolkata. Additionally, he has contributed his expertise as an independent director on several corporate boards and as a member of the Court of Governors of the Administrative Staff College of India. Mr. Bhoothalingam played the role of moderator at the Aspen Leadership Seminars in India, organised by the Aspen Institute, Colorado, USA. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, and actively participates in the China Core Group of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mr. Bhoothalingam is also the Founder and Chairman of Manas Advisory, which focuses on top management coaching, integrating psychological science with on-ground management experience. He has written extensively about how the application of science and psychology can enhance understanding between India and China.

Kishan Rana has an MA in Economics from St. Stephens College, Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1960 and served in the Indian Embassy in China (1963-65, 1970-72). He was the Indian Ambassador/ High Commissioner to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius and Germany and served on PM Indira Gandhi’s staff (1981-82). A polyglot, he speaks Chinese and French, besides English, Kathiawari, and Hindi. He is Professor Emeritus, DiploFoundation, Malta and Geneva; Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi; Archives By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge; and, Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Centre, Washington DC. Earlier, he was guest faculty, Diplomatic Academy, Vienna (2011-18) and Commonwealth Adviser, Namibia Foreign Ministry (2000-01). He has authored and edited 14 books, (with two translated into Chinese), including Inside Diplomacy (2000); Asian Diplomacy (2007); Diplomacy of the 21st Century (2011); The Contemporary Embassy (2013); Diplomacy at the Cutting Edge (2016); and, Churchill and India: Manipulation or Betrayal? (2023).

Manoranjan Mohanty was a Professor of Political Science and Director of, Developing Countries Research Centre at the University of Delhi where he taught Comparative Politics, Chinese Politics and Research Methodology. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi, where until recently he edited the CSD-Sage journal Social Change. He is a social scientist, China scholar and a peace and human rights activist with research interest in the study of the Political Economy of China, India and global transformation. He is an Emeritus Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, its founding member and former Chairperson. He is also the Emeritus Chairperson, Development Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, the research wing of Gabeshana Chakra of which he was the founder-president. He has had academic assignments in many institutions abroad including in California, Beijing, Moscow, Lagos, Copenhagen and Oxford.

Patricia Uberoi is currently an Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), Delhi. She served as the Chairperson of the Institute of Chinese Studies from 2015-2021. A sociologist by training, Dr Uberoi has taught Sociology at the University of Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and retired as Professor of Social Change and Development at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. Her research interests centre on aspects of family, kinship, gender, popular culture and social policy in respect to both India and China.

Virendra Sahai Verma is a Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies Delhi. He is an Indian Army veteran with commissioned impeccable combatant service of 35 years. He has presented so far 55 papers in national and international seminars. The subjects of articles and presentations are relating to  India-China relations, Tibet-cultural and political, India-Pakistan relations, nuclear issue, intelligence ethics, border area studies, Sino-Pak relations, Gilgit and Baltistan, Buddhism in Himalayan belt, Soldiers role in peace making, Indian Ocean, Maritime Security,  etc. Most of his writings are peace oriented with focus for resolution of disputes. 

Professor Tan Chung (b. 1929) is a renowned historian and an authority on Sino-Indian relations and cultural exchanges. He has been a doyen of Chinese cultural studies in India for over four decades. He has taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the University of Delhi (DU) from 1964 till 1994. He has been a Research Professor at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Honorary Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies.

Vinod C Khanna (b. 1939) is a former Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies. As a member of the Indian Foreign Service, he was India's Ambassador to Cuba, Indonesia, and Bhutan. During his diplomatic career he handled several responsibilities relating to Sino-Indian relations. After his retirement he served as  the first Head of the India Taipei Association which looks after India's interests in Taiwan. He was educated at Bombay and Oxford, and has been associated with Harvard University as a Fellow and the University of Delhi as a Visiting Ambassador.

M V Rappai is a Delhi based security analyst specializing in Asian Strategic issues. He worked with the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India and later on joined the IDSA as a Research Fellow (1996 - 2002). He is currently associated with the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi and has published chapters in books and articles in reputed journals and newspapers. Rappai holds a P G Diploma in Chinese language from the School of Foreign Languages, Govt. of India, New Delhi.