Bio
Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan is the director of the Centre for Security, Strategy & Technology at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi. She was the technical advisor to the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Further Effective Measures for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (July 2018–July 2019). She was also a non-resident Indo-Pacific fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre from April to December 2020. As a senior Asia defence writer for The Diplomat, she writes a weekly column on Asian strategic issues.
Rajeswari joined ORF after a five-year stint at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) (2003–2007), Government of India, where she was an assistant director. Prior to joining the NSCS, she was a research officer at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.
Rajeswari has authored or edited nine books and published research essays in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. She has published research essays in edited volumes and in peer-reviewed journals such as India Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Air and Space Power Journal, International Journal of Nuclear Law and Strategic Analysis. She has also contributed essays to newspapers such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of India and The Economic Times.
She has been invited to speak at international fora including the United Nations disarmament forum (New York), the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Vienna), the Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum and the European Union.