The Quad in the Indo-Pacific : Consolidating Peace and Prosperity

Boddupalli Rama Bhadra is a distinguished electrical engineer from Andhra University and an entrepreneur from Hyderabad. He received a Government of Japan AOTS Scholarship (1978-1980) for technical training at Mitsubishi Electric and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from American University in 2024.

Rama Bhadra is a passionate advocate for Indo-Japanese relations, recognized with several awards, including the awards from Japanese Cities of Miyoshi, Kumagaya, and Warabi, the Japanese Consulate General’s Award (2015), Japan Foreign Minister’s Award (2018), and Japan Emperor’s Award (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2023). He facilitated Hyderabad – Miyoshi sister city relations in 2006.

In 2023, Rama Bhadra founded Na Ra JAPAN HUB, an NGO/NPO, a unique Knowledge, and Cultural Hub promoting exchange and imparting training in the Japanese language, quality management, and work ethics. The hub showcases a collection of Japanese dolls and artifacts. He worked in Japan at Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (1978-1995) and founded the Asa Bhanu group in 1995, receiving the “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award (2017) and the NEDO Excellence Award from Japan (2017).

Amb Dr BM Vinod Kumar Born in 1955 in Lingampally village in Nalgonda District. Studied up to S.S.C in Suryapet. Studied M.B.B.S (1972-77) & M.S(Gen.Surgery) in Osmania Medical College. Studied L.L.B (1982-85) at Osmania University while running a clinic in Dhoolipet. Received Merit Scholarship during school and college education. Joined the Indian Foreign Service (I.F.S) in 1986 after successfully clearing the Civil Services Exams (1985). Served in Indian Embassies in Germany, Algeria, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, holding various positions such as First Secretary, Counsellor, Deputy High Commissioner, Acting High Commissioner, Minister, Charge De’ Affairs, Consul General of India and Ambassador of India. While in Germany, studied a Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations (Berlin) and Diploma in German Language (Bonn). Represented India in bilateral meetings with other countries and also in international conferences. Handled 14 foreign visits of the President and Prime Minister of India to various countries.

In India, held positions like Regional Passport Officer (R.P.O) in Hyderabad (1995-97) and opened a Passport Office in Visakhapatnam administering both Passport Offices at the same time; Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi (2010-2012) and Head of Departments: Parliament, Coordination, VIP, NIR affairs. Retired from IFS in 2015 as Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan.

Mr. Takahashi Muneo Consul-General of Japan in Chennai

Mr. Takahashi Muneo, Consul-General of Japan in Chennai, has Consular Jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Mr. Takahashi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984. He has extensive overseas experience, having served in Tunisia, the Philippines, New York, Houston, Australia, and Iraq in various capacities. He had previously worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Assistant Director, Foreign Visit, Protocol Office; Director, Overseas Voting Division; and Senior Coordinator, Consular Policy Division. Mr. Takahashi Muneo is accompanied by his spouse, Mrs. Takahashi Mitsuyo.

Dr J A Chowdary Entrepreneur, Innovator, Angel Investor, Industry Leader Jakkampudi Adiseshaiah Chowdary, also known as JA, is an entrepreneur, technology leader and innovator with an illustrious career spanning across private and public sector. He is passionate about improving the lives of Indian youth through technology, education and employment opportunities. Over the last 40 years, Sri JA Chowdary has helped grow and developing the Indian IT industry in the capacity of IT advisor and Policy advocate for several Indian State Governments; Special Chief Secretary (Rank of Cabinet Minister) to the Andhra Pradesh Government during 2014-19. Advised and assisted the Government in bringing investments, generating employment, and encouraging innovation and start- up activities in Andhra Pradesh; Head of several Indian and Global Industry forums such as FICCI, AMCHAM, TIE, HYSEA, IEEE; Director for STPI (Software Technology Parks of India), Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore; Founder and Managing Director of Global Technology Companies in India; Advisor to Universities and Technology Institutions; Co-founded TalentSprint, a leading Edu-tech company in India; Co-Founded Portal Player (Acquired by Nvidia Corporation) – A company that designed the Core Chip & Software that powered Apple IPods; Angel investor; Mentor to entrepreneurs and students.

During the early days of his career, he was awarded with NRDC Independence Day Invention Award by Government of India. JA Chowdary received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA) in 2021. Received Amulya Ratna Award and other life time achievement awards from the various Institutions. He is also proud of the fact that he has worked at ISRO Satellite Center in developing Telemetry subsystems fo r Rohini and Bhaskara Satellites. JA Chowdary received his M.Tech from IIT Madras and M.Sc. from Sri Venkateswara University. He received Honorary Doctorate for his outstanding services to the Industry from Chitkara University, Punjab.

Mr. Sanjay Pulipaka is currently the Chairperson of the Politeia Research Foundation. He was previously a Senior Fellow for Research Programmes and Strategic Neighbourhood at the Delhi Policy Group, a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum Library, and a Senior Consultant at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. Mr. Sanjay Pulipaka was a Pavate Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK, and a former Fulbright Fellow in the Conflict Transformation Programme in the United States. Sanjay also has extensive work experience with think-tanks and civil society organisations in India. He has considerable work experience in strengthening participatory political processes, governance frame works and platforms for wider consultation. He has a substantive publication record with three co-edited volumes, policy reports, numerous research papers and Op-Ed essays.

Air Marshal M Baladitya AVSM VSM, was commissioned in 1983 in the Logistics branch of Indian Air Force and retired on 31 Jan 2022. He possesses a Masters degree in Defence Studies and is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi.

The Air Marshal is a keen sportsman and represented Services in Nationals in Squash. He was the Air Force Squash champion on five occasions. He was Manager of the Indian Cricket team for the tours of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. He has been to Athens Olympics in 2004, and London Olympics as an official delegate.

The Air Marshal has tenated important field and staff appointments in his 40 year long career in IAF. He was Chairman and General Manager of Canteen Stores Department at Mumbai. The Air officer was conferred with Presidential award of Vishisht Seva Medal in 2009 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2019. He is married to Mrs Gouri Usha who is an educator.

Prof. Hiromi Hirose is currently with the Faculty of International Studies Kindai University. Former NHK New Delhi bureau chief (1998-2002) and news commentator (2012-). He has reported on news events such as the Iraq War, the September 11 attacks, and Indian Ocean Tsunami. In 2012, he interviewed Narendra Modi exclusively during his visit to Japan. As a producer he made series of TV documentaries “Impact of India”. His books include “India’s Unfathomable Strength: Exploring the Strongest Nation’s True Strength” (2024), “India’s Changing World Map: Modi’s Impact” (2019), and “Suicide Attacks:

32 Shells that Hit Me”. “Indian Ocean Tsunami Survivors’ Testimonies” was written while he was stationed in Malaysia. Bachelor（Liberal Arts 1987) The University of Tokyo and M.A. (Political Science 2020) Aoyama Gakuin University. He is a member of the Japan Association

for South Asian Studies (JASAS) and the Japan-India Association. Vice president of the Kansai Japan-India Cultural Association and special visiting professor at CSAS. He is also the founder of the India-Japan civic learning and communicating internet project “India’s Impact.” Born in Osaka, he is a Buddhist, and his high school is based at Todaiji Temple, whose opening-eye ceremony was held in the 8th century by an Indian monk.

Prof. J.L.N. Rao is Professor of Political Science at Osmania University and having a little more than three decades of experience in teaching and research. His specialisation is International Relations, and Foreign Policy. He worked on ‘India’s Foreign Policy towards South-East Asia’ to obtain Doctoral Degree. Published more than two dozen research papers in various eriodicals and edited volumes, co-edited two volumes and co-authored one book and submitted more than 50 academic papers in seminars and conferences. Rao is a resource person to College of Air-Warfare, College of Defense Management, Ministry of Defense, Government of India and to Human Resource Development Colleges of Universities and also associated with Centre for Human Security Studies, Hyderabad and Associate Editor, OUCIP Journal of International Studies for two years. Administrative experience includes the position of Additional Controller Of Examinations (Confidential) and Director, University Foreign Relations Office (UFRO), to look after internationalization of higher education at Osmania University. He was Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and Director, Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies at Osmania University

Dr. Izuyama Marie is Senior Research Fellow, Regional Studies Department at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS). She joined NIDS in 1994 and was Director of Security Studies (April 2000 to March 2023). She received her MA from University of Tokyo. Working on foreign and security policy of India, her recent research interests are India-China relations, and Indias engagement in multilateral institution. Her publications include India, China, and Japans Policy of Asian Regionalism, in Kanti Bajpai, et. al., eds., Routledge Handbook of China-India Relations, (Routledge, 2020), Border and Connectivity in Indias North Eastern Region, in Mayumi Murayama., et. al., eds., Northeast India and Japan: Engagement through Connectivity, (Routledge, 2022); India and the War in Ukraine, NIDS Commentary, 212, March 2022; Indias Diplomacy under Major Power Competition, Asia-Pacific Review, 31:1, July 2024.

Dr. Sinjini Bhattacharya (Ph.D) completed her doctoral studies from the University of Hyderabad. Her doctoral thesis studied the role of civil society organizations in peacebuilding in India. Since 2018, she has been teaching Political Science at St. Francis College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad. Her areas of interest include social media and politics, India’s foreign policy, BRICS and Non-Traditional Security. She has served as resource person for the American Corner Hyderabad, for programs addressing democracy and youth, Martin Luther King Jr., conflict resolution and peace building to name a few. Dr. Sinjini is a subject matter expert for IGNOU and BRAOU for whom she has written chapters pertaining to social media and international relations. She has recently served as a subject matter expert for Oxford University Press, providing her inputs for the adaptation of a UK published book on international relations for Indian students. In 2023, she was selected as a Study of US Institutions for Scholars Fellow (A program run by the US State Department, Bureau of Education and Culture). As part of the program she participated in the school on American Political Development at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has presented her work in several national and international seminars and conferences as well as published her work in national journals and as book chapters.

Prof. Dr R V Ramana Murthy is a senior professor and former Dean of School of Economics, University of Hyderabad. He had widely published in the areas of Political Economy and Globalisation. He received Distinguished Contribution Award in Field of Political Economy in 2017 from World Association of Political Economy in Moscow.

Mr. Sriram Kuchimanchi is the founder & CEO of Smarter Dharma (https://smarterdharma.com/), an India based sustainability enterprise dedicated to promoting adoption of sustainability across various business sectors, including real estate, hospitality and others. He has a Bachelors (in India) and Masters (from the United States) in Computer Science. He also studied Sustainability as a Leadership program from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. For his approach and vision, he was awarded Ashoka Fellowship in 2016, initiated by the Honourable President of India, late Mr Pranab Mukherjee. He envisions a world where sustainability is the default choice for all. Before founding Smarter Dharma in 2012, he worked in the high-tech industry for a decade, mostly in the Silicon Valley of California, USA. During that time, he was also an active volunteer and Head of Fund-raising at Association for India’s Development in the USA. Under his leadership, Smarter Dharma is building Asia’s 1st data-driven advanced decision making platform for urban challenges. He has set a bold goal of mitigating 1 billion tons of Carbon by 2030. And as a TEDx speaker & thinker he is an active evangelist of climate action in India.

Dr. Kanneganti Ramesh Babu is the Founder & Executive Director of Center for Human Security Studies (CHSS)at Hyderabad (a think-tank on security studies). He holds an M.Phill and also a Ph.D in American Studies from School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)-New Delhi & a Post-Doctorate in Security Studies from BESA Center for Strategic Studies –Israel. Dr. Ramesh was a Fellow at the Certificate Program on Human Centred AI Strategy (Social Sector Cohort) at Stanford University in October 2024. He was also a recipient of prestigious US State Dept International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in 2011 to develop American Studies curriculum for Indian Universities, part of this he has visited many Universities/MNCs in the US. He was a Visiting Graduate student at Rothberg International School, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2002-2003), and a Post-Doctoral fellow at Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies –Bar-Ilan University in Israel (2007) worked on US- Israel-India Strategic Triangle. He had received an Austrian Scholarship to study in Vienna in 2003. Dr. Ramesh has been on Electronic Media quite often known for his in-depth analysis on Internal Security & external affairs of India.

He is associated with the National Investigation Agency, National Industrial Security Academy (NISA), Central Detective Training School (CDTS), Hyderabad, as well as Octopus, Counter- Terrorism Centre of Andhra Pradesh Government. Dr. Ramesh was the Course Co-coordinator for the General Studies subject at Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Hyderabad He worked with Vivekananda International Foundation as a Research Associate on Counter-Terrorism Policies of India under the guidance of the Present National Security Advisor of India, Shri Ajit Kumar Doval.

Dr. Kanica Rakhra is currently an Assistant Professor (Kautilya School of Public Policy) where she teaches International Relations and Global Affairs. Prior to this, Dr. Rakhra was working with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) where she was with the Policy Planning and Research Division, the Disarmament and International Security Affairs (D&ISA) Division and in India’s G20 Secretariat.

A former Fellow at Middlebury Institute for International Studies, the Swedish South Asian Studies Network, the Harvard led-Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA), and the Asia Global Institute, she holds a PhD from the Center for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament (CIPOD) in Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has also participated in a number of Track 1.5 and Track 2 dialogues, written chapters for books, and published articles in various journals and media outlets.

Group Captain, TH Anand Rao (Retd) is the Director of the Indian Space Association (ISpA) and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. He is a former fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF), a flying instructor, and a veteran of the Kargil War. During his 33 years o f service with the IAF, he flew various combat aircraft and held several operational and staff appointments. He has served as a Chief Operations Officer and a Flight Safety and Inspection Officer at frontline IAF airbases. In 2011, he was awarded the Chief of Air Staff Commendation.

He is a keen observer of the space domain and writes on issues related to space security, strategy and policy. He has authored a book titled ‘India’s Space Security Dilemma’ and has co-edited a book titled ‘Beyond the Blue Yonder’. Anand Rao has participated as a panellist in national and international seminars.

Dr. Srinivas Oruganti is the whole-time Director of Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences (DRILS) since 2018. He also heads the Center for Process Research & Innovation, an industry- oriented chemistry research department of Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences. Dr. Oruganti received his Ph.D. in 2004 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, in the area of photo switchable cluster glycosides, and did his postdoctoral research at the Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, CNRS in the design and synthesis of glycocluster–tumor antigenic peptide conjugates for glycotargeting of dendritic cells. He has contributed significantly to various aspects of early stage process development of active pharmaceutical ingredients ranging from therapeutic areas like diabetes, cardio-vascular, multiple sclerosis and cancer. His pivotal contributions pertain to bringing an active pharmaceutical ingredient to market as a generic drug through innovation in chemical process development and offering a strategic vantage point to any pharmaceutical company in its efforts to carve out a niche for itself in ever challenging generic drug market. With support from Government of Telangana – Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories – Laurus Labs, Dr. Oruganti spearheaded the setting up of a multi-industry centric ‘Flow Chemistry Technology Hub (FCT-Hub)’ at DRILS to reiterate the commitment to chemical process development with guiding elements of sustainability and circular economy. Under his leadership, a CoE – Center for Rare Disease Models was set-up at DRILS to amplify efforts for rare disease research and clinician collaborations. Dr. Oruganti serves on the Advisory Committees of incubators – DST-TBI (Univ of Hyderabad), BioNest – MAHE (Manipal), SBTIC & B-Hub (Govt of Telangana), Apollo Health & Education Research Foundation (AHERF) and Monitoring Committees of CSIR’s API-AHC (Affordable Healthcare Mission) . and DST’s API-KSM initiative. He is an inventor in more than 100 patents and has published over 40 research papers in leading international journals.

Mr. Karthikeya Kumar Kadainti is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in training and human resources. He holds degree in Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) from Madurai Kamaraj University, and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Sri Venkateswara University. Throughout his career, Karthikeya has taken on various roles, including: HR Analyst & Consultant: Specializing in talent acquisition, performance management, and consulting ; Leadership Coach & Life Skills Trainer: Providing training in communication skills, event management, modeling, photography, and soft skills; Cyber Security Advisor: Offering mentorship in cyber security and serving as a Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst.

Ambassador Rajasekhar is a career diplomat, represented India around the world. Served both at home including as Director East Asia and DG ICCR and abroad including in Tokyo, London and Seoul and negotiated several trade/investment agreements.