Lowy Institute appoints inaugural India Chair

The Lowy Institute is delighted to announce it has appointed Shruti Pandalai as its inaugural India Chair. Ms Pandalai will lead the Institute's new India Program producing independent research and analysis across the full breadth of the Australia–India relationship.

India is taking an ever more prominent role in world affairs and as a key partner to Australia in the Indo-Pacific. Yet the discussion of India’s strategic contribution and global interests in Australia’s national debate is often limited.

The India Program will produce leading research on India's emergence as a global strategic heavyweight, the shared priorities underpinning the Australia–India partnership, and India's role in minilaterals such as the Quad.

It will also examine geopolitical dynamics in India's neighbourhood, including China’s growing influence across South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM said Ms Pandalai's appointment reflected the Lowy Institute's commitment to deepening Australia’s understanding of one of its most important bilateral relationships.

"India matters to Australia more than ever — as a strategic partner, a major economy, and a fellow member of the Quad," Dr Fullilove said. "We have established the India Chair to bring new depth and rigour to the Australian debate on India, and to give Australian policymakers and the business community sharper insights into one of our defining relationships."

Ms Pandalai said Australia and India had more in common strategically than was often recognised in either capital.

"In an international order marked by volatility and churn, India and Australia have increasingly leaned on each other to manage shared challenges and pursue converging interests in the Indo-Pacific,” Ms Pandalai said. “There is more shared strategic logic between Canberra and New Delhi than people often realise, and I’m looking forward to bringing that into sharper focus through my work at the Lowy Institute."

Ms Pandalai joins the Lowy Institute from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), where her research focused on Indo-Pacific geopolitics, great power competition, the Quad, and the India–China relationship. She has advised on MP-IDSA projects for India's National Security Council Secretariat and its ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs. She is also a former broadcast journalist.

The India Program's research and commentary will be published in analysis papers, policy briefs, op-eds in leading Australian, Indian and international publications, and podcasts. The Program will also host public lectures, private roundtables and panel discussions bringing together leading experts, business figures and policymakers from Australia, India and the broader Indo-Pacific.

The India Chair and Program are supported by a Maitri Grant from the Centre for Australia–India Relations, an Australian Government initiative.

Centre for Australia–India Relations CEO Ryan Neelam said Ms Pandalai's appointment strengthens Australia's analytical capacity on a crucial relationship.

“The relationship between Australia and India is stronger than ever,” Mr Neelam said. “But as a society, we need to better understand modern India in all its dynamism and complexity. Having a dedicated India Chair at the Lowy Institute will help to deepen the Australian debate on one of our most consequential partnerships, and ultimately strengthen connections between the two countries.”

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