A highly regarded commentator on political and economic issues, Dr Sanjaya Baru is the Director for Geo-economics and Strategy, at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.

He was the Official Spokesman and Media Advisor to the former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh between 2004 to 2008 and is the author of the 2014 memoir The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh.

He was a Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, between 2008-09.

Dr Baru previously served as Editor of the leading Indian financial newspaper The Business Standard. He has also been the Chief Editor of The Financial Express, and an Associate Editor of The Economic Times and The Times of India.

He has been a Professor at one of the leading think-tanks in India, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations in New Delhi, and a Member of India's National Security Advisory Board in the Prime Minister's Office. And he is the author of two other books - Strategic Consequences of India's Economic Performance and The Political Economy of Indian Sugar.