Maj Gen Rajiv Narayana, AVSM, VSM (Veteran), has over 37 years of distinguished service in the Indian Army, from 1978 to 2016. Commissioned in Dec 1978 in the Armoured Corps, Maj Gen Rajiv Narayanan retired after over 37 years of distinguished service in Feb 2016. During his service, an alumnus of DSSC Wellington and DSCSC Mirpur, Dhaka, he commanded one of the oldest cavalry units in India, an Armoured Brigade, and a Mountain Division opposite China. An expert in mechanised and mountain warfare, he has seen service along India’s Western and Northern Borders. Known within the Army fraternity as a Cerebral General, he has been an avid follower of International Relations & Geo-Politics for over three decades and has been a China watcher since 1999. He has had the opportunity to serve as the Defence Attaché in the Embassy of India Dushanbe, Tajikistan, during the turbulent period post 9/11 from Oct 2003 to Mar 2007 and as the Additional Director General of Military Operations (B) for the last three years of his service, wherein he was closely involved with Future Strategy, Force Structures and Force Modernisation. He is a public speaker, both in India & abroad and has many articles, monographs and papers published in Indian Journals and magazines (including web editions). He has edited three books on Indo-Pacific, India & Central Asia, and India-China: Building Strategic Trust. His fourth book, The Dragon Fire: Evolving Capabilities of China’s PLA, is under publication.

The Maj Gen is a Professor of Practice at IIT Madras and an Independent Defence and Strategic Analyst specialising in China, PLA, Indo-Pacific, Future Strategies, Force Modernisation, and Force Structures.