Dr. Abhinav Pandya, a Cornell University graduate in public affairs, and a bachelor's from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, is a policy analyst specializing in counterterrorism, Indian foreign policy, and Afghanistan-Pakistan geopolitics. He completed his Doctoral degree from the Jindal School of International Affairs (OP Jindal Global University). His second book "Terror Financing in Kashmir" is published by Routledge.
He is the founder, Director, and CEO of Usanas Foundation, India-based security, and foreign policy think tank. As a CEO, he has curated two international security and foreign policy conferences titled Maharana Pratap Annual Geopolitics Dialogue 2022 and 2023. He has extensively written for the National Interest (USA), Vivekananda International Foundation, Observer Research Foundation, South Asia Democratic Forum (Brussels), Haaretz (Israel), the Economic Times (India), HW News (India), Sunday Guardian, the Express Tribune (Pakistan), Huffington Post, Fair Observer (U.S.), Firstpost, Indian Defense Review, Indian Military Review, Policy Perspectives Foundation (India) and Quint. His research articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals like Perspectives on Terrorism, (International Counter Terrorism Center, Hague), CLAWS Journal (CLAWS), and Strategic Analysis (IDSA). He has authored “Radicalization in India: An Exploration (Pentagon,2019). He has given lectures on terrorism-related issues to NATO officers (Baltic Defence College), US Congressional Staff members, Vivekananda International Foundation, Central Reserve Police Force (India), the Bureau of Police Research and Development), the Indian Army, and Global Policy Institute. He has been interviewed by tv channels like News X (India), DD India, NBC (USA), Epoch Times, Zee News, Stratfor, Dainik Bhaskar, and many Ph.D. scholars working in terrorism studies.
In the past, he has advised the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir on security issues during the critical times when Kashmir’s special status i.e. article 370 was revoked. He also worked with the International Labor Organization, UN as a member of the national-level specialist team on MGNREGS. He has extensive experience with the conflict situation and intelligence dynamics in Kashmir.