Shyam Saran has served as the Foreign Secretary of India, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change, as well as the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia, Myanmar and Nepal. After leaving government in 2010, he headed the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a highly acclaimed think tank focusing on economic issues, and Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board under the National Security Council. He is currently the President of the India International Centre, and a member of both the Governing Board of the Centre for Policy Research and the Institute of Chinese Studies. His first book, How India Sees the World, was followed by How China Sees India and the World. Shyam Saran has been awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honors, for his outstanding contributions to the civil service. In 2019, the Emperor of Japan conferred to him the Spring Order Gold and Silver Star for strengthening India-Japan relations.