Neelam Deo has served as the Indian Ambassador to Denmark and Ivory Coast with concurrent accreditation to Niger, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. She has also served in the Indian embassies in Rome, Bangkok and Washington D.C., where she liaised with the U.S. Congress, the State Department, and the National Security Council on strategic issues. Her last assignment was as Consul General in New York from 2005 to 2008.
During the course of her assignments in the Ministry of External Affairs, she held the position of Joint Secretary for the divisions dealing with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives. At different times over the course of her career, she has dealt with Bhutan, South East Asia and the Pacific, as well as countries in West Asia and North Africa.
She is an invited speaker on strategic issues and India-U.S. relations at numerous think tanks and universities, in India, Europe and the United States.
Apart from her articles and commentaries written exclusively for Gateway House, Neelam occasionally writes for mainstream publications, and is a frequent commentator for television news channels.
She has a Master’s degree from the Delhi School of Economics and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Indian Foreign Affairs Journal.
She is also a member of the board of Oxfam India and is a trustee of Breakthrough (a human rights organization).
She is an independent director on the boards of Mahindra CIE Automotive Limited and Mahindra Defence Systems Limited.
Expertise
Africa, Foreign Policy, India's Bilateral Relations, USA
Former President Trump and incumbent President Biden have emerged as frontrunners in the ongoing U.S. primaries. While the former faces several legal hurdles, the latter has been criticised for his response to the crises in Israel and Ukraine and the strategic contest with China. Neelam Deo, co-founder, Gateway House, speaks with Purvi Patel, International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, about the electoral race, legal challenges to Trump's candidature, and what India can expect from another Trump presidency.
The coup has revealed three truths: the long tail of colonialism is reaching its end; alternatives to western control and command have emerged; the younger generation in developing countries have neither awe nor loyalty to the old master and nothing to lose in overthrowing the past, even though they know not their future.
The recent in-person Quad meeting attended by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and the India-U.S. 2+2 meeting of foreign and defence ministers in New Delhi, highlights not only the big upgrade in India’s strategic relations with the U.S. but also the enhanced U.S. focus on India, the Indo-Pacific and Asia. Clearly then, the foreign policy of the next U.S. administration will impact India, Asia and the world.
The COVID19 crisis has thrown into stark relief the strategic influence China wields across various agencies of the United Nations, especially the WHO. This raises the question - will the UN, as an important supra-governmental body, be able retain impartiality in the post-covid world order?
The global balance of power is in the process of a fundamental shift. The West appears fixated on China, which is both a “systemic rival” and a strategic partner to be cultivated. Europe now needs to choose between the values it shares with India and commercial profitability from China
Peaceful dissent was the original animus for the formation of the Forum 2000 Foundation. Started by the late Czech dissident Vaclav Havel, the conference, held in Prague every September, offers a platform to experts and activists from around the world to revisit ideas about pacifism and protest
The world has changed – and so has India in the last 70 years since independence. Its foreign policy has evolved from non-alignment to multipolarity and to proactive participation in various multilateral organisations. Building on the work of its predecessors, the Modi government’s diplomacy articulates India’s interests more forthrightly and pursues them more energetically
The second informal summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram on October 11 is likely to be more a holding operation than an occasion for increasing convergence of perspectives on regional and global issues. Neelam Deo, Director of Gateway House, answers a few questions on the eve of the Chinese president’s visit
Prime Minister Modi’s tour of the U.S. last month was centred around the UN General Assembly’s 74th session and discussions on environmental challenges, but questions regarding the Indian government’s action in Kashmir persisted
An expert workshop on reinvigorating the UN, offered an opportunity for scholars, think tanks and members of civil society to revisit the many contradictions that plague it 75 years after it was formed. An assessment of some of the issues that persist
