Dr. Meena Singh Roy has done post-graduation in Political Science, M.Phil and Ph.D from the University of Delhi. She was awarded a medal for scoring the highest marks in History at Delhi University during her graduation. She was a scholarship holder of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR).

Prior to joining the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), she was a senior research scholar in the Department of African Studies, Delhi University.

She has researched subjects of national security, arms transfers, theories of international relations and sanctions.

She was associated with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies and London School of Economics for her research work. She has been a Visiting Research Fellow with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Institute of Asian Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, and a Visiting Fellow at BESA, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Professional Profile:

Dr. Meena Singh Roy has 36 years of research experience, out of which she worked for 23 years at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), a think tank under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. During her work at MP-IDSA, she headed the Eurasia and West Asia Centre.

Currently, she is Chairperson of the Greater West Asia Forum, India (GWAFI), Senior Fellow and Head of the Eurasia and West Asia Centre at the Tillotoma Foundation, Distinguished Fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), New Delhi, Distinguished Fellow at The Indian Futures, New Delhi, and Member of the West Asia Expert Group at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi. Her areas of specialisation are Eurasia, West Asia and Africa.

Over two decades, she has been a guest speaker at various national and international government and private institutions, universities and think tanks. In India, she has delivered lectures at the National Defence College, New Delhi; College of Defence Management, Hyderabad; College of Air Warfare, Hyderabad; Army War College, Mhow; and Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (MEA), New Delhi. In addition, she has been invited to participate in conferences, Track Two meetings and lectures at many institutions, universities and think tanks in Europe, West Asia and Eurasia.

She has numerous national and international publications, including books and articles. Her peer-reviewed articles and papers focus on West Asia and Central Asia. Her major publications cover India-Central Asia relations, India-West Asia relations, regional organisations, terrorism, energy security, connectivity and other international issues. She has been involved in net assessment reports and strategic gaming on West Asia and Eurasia.

Some of her publications include a monograph titled The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: India Seeking New Role in the Eurasian Regional Mechanism* (2014), and books titled International and Regional Security Dynamics: Indian and Iranian Perspectives* (ed.) (July 2009);Emerging Trends in West Asia: Regional and Global Implications (ed.) (2014); Persian Gulf 2016–17: India’s Relations with the Region (co-edited with Prof. P. R. Kumaraswamy, 2017); Ideology, Politics and New Security Challenges in West Asia (ed.) (2018); and Changing Security Paradigm in West Asia: Regional and International Responses (ed.) (2020). She also completed the joint Delhi Policy Group and IDSA Task Force report on *West Asia in Transition in 2015. Presently, she is working on two book projects: From Defence to Development: Decoding New Frontiers in India-Israel Relations and Interpreting India-Iran Relations amidst Emerging New Security Paradigm in West Asia.

Key Achievements:

(a) As a Student:

Her Ph.D. thesis, titled “Arms Transfer to South Africa and Its Implications for the Southern African Region (1960 to 1990),” focused on how sanctions in the case of South Africa did not deliver the desired results. Her research on sanctions remains relevant even in today’s context.

In her M.Phil. thesis, titled “Apartheid: Recent Remodeling,” she focused on the atrocities committed by the white regime in South Africa against the people of the nation, which gained independence in 1990.

She was awarded a medal for scoring the highest marks in History during her graduation at Delhi University. Later, for her Ph.D. research, she received junior and senior UGC scholarships and an ICSSR scholarship. She was associated with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies and London School of Economics for her Ph.D. research.

(b) As part of the Government of India’s Think Tank (MP-IDSA):

She has researched subjects including national security, arms transfers, theories of international relations, sanctions, regional groupings, connectivity and bilateral relations. Her first major contribution was the study of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). She conducted in-depth research on regional groupings such as the SCO and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). Her work has been acknowledged internationally. The Ministry of External Affairs, India, acknowledged her in-depth analysis of the benefits and limitations of India joining the SCO. Due to her work on the SCO, she was invited to participate in SCO forum meetings (Track Two meetings) in China, Russia and Central Asia.

Her second major contribution was research on India’s connectivity with Eurasia and West Asia. Her research focused on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the Chabahar port project. Her research paper on INSTC became the base paper for study in the Ministry of Commerce and the Freight Forwarders Association, Mumbai. She represented MP-IDSA during the INSTC Track One meeting at the Ministry of Commerce. Currently, she is working on the merits and limitations of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

Thirdly, she has contributed extensively to building bilateral relations between India and Central Asia, India and Iran, and India and West Asia through her academic writings and participation in bilateral Track Two dialogues with countries in the region. In this context, she became a driving force in initiating the major International Annual and subsequently Biannual West Asia Conference at MP-IDSA until 2020. Her contributions to India-Iran relations and the trilateral dialogue between India, Iran and Afghanistan strengthened engagement with these countries. Her work on Pakistan’s strategies in Central Asia has been well acknowledged regionally and internationally.

At the invitation of the Election Commission of Uzbekistan, she observed and monitored presidential and parliamentary elections across many regions of Uzbekistan as an international observer. This acknowledged her work in building bilateral ties between India and Central Asia.

MEADOWS NATIONAL AWARD 2026 was presented to Dr. Meena Singh Roy in recognition of her outstanding professional excellence and distinguished contribution to geopolitics. With over three decades of research experience, her work has advanced understanding of West Asia, Eurasia, regional security and India’s international relations.

Membership of Professional Institutes and Societies:

- Central Eurasian Studies Society, United States
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies and the Centre for Inner Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
- Member of the Board of Studies in Defence and Strategic Studies, Punjab University, Chandigarh, and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala
- Member of the International Editorial Board of Central Asian Affairs, Brill NV, Leiden, Netherlands
- Member of the Advisory Board of *International Studies*, Sage