South Asia Visiting Fellows Program
Stimson's Visiting Fellows program began in 1993 with private foundation support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, with subsequent support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Over 70 Visiting Fellows have participated in this program. Fellowships were initially directed at up-and-coming professors, journalists, and NGO analysts. One purpose of our fellowships was to "teach the teachers." Stimson's very first Visiting Fellow was Rifaat Hussain from Quaid-i-Azam University's Defence and Strategic Studies Department. Professor Hussain, like other former Visiting Fellows based at universities in Pakistan and India, is now mentoring a new generation of very capable strategic analysts. Other "graduates" of Stimson's VF program now teach at academic centers in Chennai, Varanasi, Karachi, Baroda, Chandigarh, Islamabad and New Delhi.
Another example of the long-term impact of visiting fellowships is Raj Chengappa, who was a visiting fellow in 1995. He was then a beat reporter on national security issues for India Today, India's equivalent of Time magazine. Print journalists were a key target audience for early visiting fellowships, as Stimson believed that a three-month stay in Washington might add depth and breadth to reporting on national security and nuclear issues within India and Pakistan, where debate was shaped by a very small number of individuals. Raj Chengappa rose through the ranks to become Managing Editor of India Today. He is now Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper chain in the Punjab. Other "graduates" of Stimson's VF program have filed many stories for The Hindu, India Today, The Deccan Herald, New Delhi Television, Indian Express, Nation, Daily Times, Friday Times, Frontier Post, and GEO Television.
On rare occasions, Stimson invited "seniors" to become Visiting Fellows. We focused primarily on exceptional individuals who were inclined to start "second careers" by starting up new nongovernmental organizations that could enrich domestic consideration of national security issues in India and Pakistan. Visiting Fellow Dipankar Banerjee (1997) helped launch the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in Delhi. V.R. Raghavan (1996) has helped set up the Delhi Policy Group and the Centre for Security Analysis in Chennai.
The Visiting Fellows project design at its inception was to bring and a single Indian and a single Pakistani to Washington for up to three months to familiarize them with Washington as well as the theory and practice of arms control, disarmament, nuclear risk reduction, and confidence-building measures. Visiting Fellows engage in an intensive work/study program that includes meetings with government officials and Washington-based policy analysts working on arms control, regional security, and CBMs. Fellows have an opportunity to visit with a number of government officials, including those from the Department of Energy, Department of State, and Department of Defense. Visits are also arranged to nongovernmental organizations working on related national security issues. Visits on Capitol Hill are another staple of the Visiting Fellows program. Fellows are also kept abreast of pertinent seminars and lectures taking place in Washington.
In 2003, the Stimson Center began receiving funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. The focus of this fellowship program is nuclear risk reduction. As such, the Stimson Center's Visiting Fellows program no longer solicits general applications and exclusively hosts active duty officers serving on the Strategic Plans Division at Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Stimson also hosts civilian officials working at Pakistan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority.
Former South Asia Visiting Fellows
Li Zhang
October 2011- Present
Institute of South Asia Studies, Sichuan University
Research Topic: China's relationship with South Asia
Zaheer Baig
April 2011- June 2011
Director of the Chairman's Secretariat, Pakistan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority
Research Topic: Pakistan's Nuclear Energy Requirements
Khalid Mohyuddin
August 2010- October 2010
Colonel, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs Division, Strategic Plans Division
Research Topic: Consequences of India's Ballistic Missile Defense for Strategic Stability in South Asia
Hamid Farooq
April 2009- June 2009
Lt. Colonel, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs Directorate, Strategic Plans Division, JSHQ
Research Topic: The Efficacy of Nuclear Confidence-Building Measures for Enhancing Regional Stability
Mohammad Saleem Zafar
May 2007- August 2007
Chief Scientific Officer, Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority
Research Topic: Vulnerability of Research Reactors to Terrorist Attack
Zafar Ali
February 2007- May 2007
Lt. Colonel, Strategic Plans Division, Joint Staff Headquarters
Research Topic: Pakistan's Nuclear Assets and Threats of Terrorism
Abdul Mannan
November 2006 - January 2007
Director, Directorate of Transportation and Waste, Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority
Research Topic: Consequences of Nuclear Terrorism in Pakistan
Adil Sultan April 2006 - July 2006
Wing Commander, Strategic Plans Division, JSHQ
Research Topic: US-India Nuclear Deal
Ajay Gondane
January 2006 - June 2006
Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs
Khurshid Khan
October 2004 - December 2004
Lt. Colonel, Strategic Plans Division
Research Topic: Limited War in South Asia
Zawar Abidi
June 2003 - September 2003
Assistant Director Equivalent, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic Plans Division, JSHQ
Research Topic: Conventional forces in South Asia
Rafi Khan
July 2002 - September 2002
Brigadier, Strategic Plans Division, JSHQ, Pakistan Army
Research Topic: Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers
Khalid Banuri
September 2001 - November 2001
Deputy Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic Plans Division, JSHQ
Research Topic: Personnel Reliability Program
Rajesh Basrur
September 2001 - November 2001
Director, Center for Global Studies - Mumbai
Research Topic: The impact of missile defenses on southern Asia
Mutahir Ahmed
May 2001 - July 2001
Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Karachi
Research Topic: Conflict resolution and confidence-building measures
W. Lawrence Prabhakar
May 2001 - July 2001
Associate Professor of Political Science, Madras Christian College - Chennai, India
Research Topic: Implications of NMD on South Asia
Umma Salma Bava
February 2001 - April 2001
Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of Delhi
Research Topic: Relevance of US-USSR nuclear risk reduction measures in the India-Pakistan-China context
Arifa Noor
February 2001 - April 2001
Assistant Editor, The News on Sunday
Research Topic: US policy towards terrorism, with respect to South Asia
Harinder Baweja
September 2000 - November 2000
Associate Editor, India Today - Delhi
Research Topic: The logic of third party mediation in Kashmir
Khaled Ahmed
September 2000 - November 2000
Consulting Editor, The Friday Times - Lahore
Research Topic: South Asian interpretations of Western deterrence theory
Sanjay Chaturvedi
June 2000 - July 2000
Chairman, Political Science, and Coordinator, Centre for Study of Geopolitics, Punjab University - Chandigarh, India
Research Topic: Border issues between Pakistan and India
Nazir Hussain
June 2000 - July 2000
Assistant Professor of Defense and Strategic Studies, Quaid-I-Azam University - Islamabad
Research Topic: Threat perceptions in India and Pakistan and the prospects for nuclear risk reduction measures in the region
Arvind Kumar
April 2000 - May 2000
Research Associate, National Institute for Advanced Studies - Bangalore, India
Research Topic: Implications of NMD on South Asia
Naseem Irfan
April 2000 - May 2000
Radiological and Environmental Engineering Group
Research Topic: Environmental effects of a nuclear exchange on the subcontinent
Surinder Singh Oberoi
February 2000 - March 2000
Agence France Presse
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
Ayesha Haroon
February 2000 - March 2000
Resident Editor, The Nation - Islamabad
Research Topic: Economic Confidence Building Measures
Syed Agha Haider Naqvi
November 1999 - December 1999
Brigadier, Pakistani Army, GHQ
Research Topic: Nuclear command and control issues
Amrita Shah
September 1999 - October 1999
Columnist, The Indian Express - Mumbai
Research Topic: Media in relation to societal trends in South Asia
Rashed Rahman
September 1999 - October 1999
Assistant Editor, The Nation - Lahore
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya
June 1999 - July 1999
Professor and Chairperson, Department of Political Science and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences , Banaras Hindu University
Research Topic: Communal and ethnic conflicts in South Asia and their cross border ramifications
Priyankar Upadhyaya
June 1999 - July 1999
Professor of Peace Studies & Director, Malaviya Center for Peace Research , Banaras Hindu University
Research Topic: Conflict Resolution and Track II Diplomacy in South Asia
Khalida Ghaus
June 1999 - July 1999
Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Karachi
Research Topic: Pakistani foreign policy
Dilip Mohite
November 1998 - December 1998
Chairman of the Political Science Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Baroda
Research Topic: Political reconcialiation in South Asia
Syed Sikander Mehdi
November 1998 - December 1998
Professor of International Relations, University of Karachi
Research Topic: Debate on nuclear weapons following the May 1998 tests
Ilmas Futehally
September 1998 - October 1998
Executive Director, International Centre for Peace Initiatives - Mumbai, India
Research Topic: Conflict resolution, Future Scenarios
Arvind Gokhale
June 1998 - July 1998
Editor, The Kesari - Pune, India
Research Topic: The role of the vernacular press in India-Pakistan relations
Zia Iqbal Shahid
June 1998 - July 1998
Senior Journalist, The Daily Jang
Research Topic: Role of vernacular press in India-Pakistan relations
Bhashyam Kasturi
April 1998 - May 1998
Chief Correspondent, Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India
Research Topic: South Asia regional security
Nadeem Khalid
April 1998 - May 1998
Section Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Research Topic: Pakistani foreign policy
Sudha Ramachandran
February 1998 - March 1998
Chief Sub-Editor , The Deccan Herald - Bangalore
Research Topic: Terrorism, South Asian security issues and political developments
Misbah Saadat
February 1998 - March 1998
Assistant Editor , The Dawn
Research Topic: Conflict resolution in South Asia
Dipankar Banerjee
November 1997 - December 1997
Executive Director, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
Talat Masood
November 1997 - December 1997
Research Topic: Nuclear weapons issues in the subcontinent
Parmit Pal Chaudhuri
September 1997 - October 1997
Senior Assistant Editor, The Telegraph - Calcutta, India
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
Ahson Saeed Hasan
September 1997 - October 1997
Freelance journalist
Research Topic: Nuclear weapons issues in the subcontinent
M.J. Vinod
June 1997 - August 1997
Professor in the Department of Political Science, Bangalore University
Research Topic: South Asian nuclear security issues
Moonis Ahmar
June 1997 - July 1997
Professor of International Relations, University of Karachi
Research Topic: Conflict resolution and confidence-building measures
Kamal Chenoy
April 1997 - May 1997
Associate Professor of Comparative and Indian Politics, Jawarharlal Nehru University
Research Topic: Track II Diplomacy
Umer Farooq
April 1997 - May 1997
Legal and Defense Correspondent, The Nation - Lahore
Research Topic: The Siachen Glacier dispute between India and Pakistan
Uttam Sen
February 1997 - March 1997
Assistant Editor, The Deccan Herald - Bangalore
Research Topic: Disarmament issues
Nadeem Siddiqui
February 1997 - March 1997
Graduate Student, Washington University in St. Louis
Research Topic: Arms control and security
V.R. Raghavan
November 1996 - December 1996
Director of Planning and Projects, Delhi Policy Group
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
Raja Mohammed Iqbal
November 1996 - December 1996
Research Topic: Confidence-building measures
K.P. Nayar
September 1996 - October 1996
Diplomatic Editor, The Telegraph - Calcutta, India
Research Topic: Proliferation of small arms in South Asia
Tashar Ravuri
September 1996
Research Topic: US foreign policy decision-making
Aqil Shah
September 1996 - October 1996
Research Topic: Arms control
J. Pravin Kumar
June 1996 - July 1996
Jawarharlal Nehru University
Research Topic: Conflict resolution in South Asia
Amir Khan
June 1996 - July 1996
The National Assembly of Pakistan
Research Topic: US policy in South Asia
Raj Chengappa
September 1995 - November 1995
Managing Editor, India Today - Delhi
Research Topic: Nuclear CBMs between India and Pakistan
Gurinder Singh
May 1995 - July 1995
Research Topic: Military issues in the subcontinent
Nishat Ahmad
May 1995 - July 1995
Director, Institute for Regional Studies - Islamabad
Research Topic: South Asia regional security
Maroof Raza
March 1995 - April 1995
Regional Director for South Asia, Middlesex University - London
Research Topic: Insurgency in Kashmir
Naeem Salik
March 1995 - April 1995
Director ACDA, SPD, Pakistan Army
Research Topic: Non-offensive defense strategies
Bharat Karnad
January 1995 - February 1995
Defense Analyst, Centre for Policy Studies - New Delhi
Research Topic: Creating an India-Pakistan mutual assurance regime
Maqsudul Hasan Nuri
January 1995 - February 1995
Senior Research Scholar, Institute for Regional Studies - Islamabad
Research Topic: Transparency regimes
Yogesh Tyagi
November 1994 - December 1994
Professor of International Law, Jawarharlal Nehru University - Delhi
Research Topic: Increasing cooperation between India and Pakistan on issues of human rights
Ahmer Bilal Soofi
November 1994 - December 1994
Senior Partner, Ahmer Bilal Soofi & Co.
Research Topic: India-Pakistan Legal exchange program
Poonam Barua
September 1994 - October 1994
Ph.D. Candidate, Indian Institute of Public Administration
Research Topic: Trade and commerce as CBMs
Mariam Madiha Aftab
September 1994 - October 1994
Pakistani Mission to the United Nations
Research Topic: Political economy of Indo-Pakistani relations and the role of CBMs
Sunil Chandra
May 1994 - July 1994
Instructor, Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun
Research Topic: CBMs related to transparency, secrecy, force levels and deployment
Zahid Hussain
March 1994 - May 1994
Senior Editor, Newsline - Karachi
Research Topic: Nuclear CBMs for the region and possible roles for outside powers
Savita Datt
January 1994 - March 1994
Research Associate, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses - Delhi
Research Topic: Conflict pre-emption CBMs
Atul Aneja
March 1994 - May 1994
Special Correspondent for Defense, The Hindu - Chennai, India
Research Topic: Verification of border-dispute resolution mechanisms
Shaheen Akhtar
January 1994 - March 1994
Research Analyst, Institute for Regional Studies - Islamabad
Research Topic: CBMs for the Kashmir dispute
Syed Rifaat Hussain
September 1993 - November 1993
Chairman of the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Quaid-I-Azam University - Islamabad