Dr Abhinav Pandya, a Cornell University graduate in public affairs and a bachelor's from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, is a policy analyst specialising in counterterrorism, security affairs, Indian foreign policy, and Afghanistan-Pakistan geopolitics. He completed his Doctoral degree from the Jindal School of International Affairs (OP Jindal Global University). He has written book chapters in peer-reviewed Scopus-indexed journals and authored four books: The Jihad Game: Inside Pakistan’s Dark War (Juggernaut, 2025), Inside the Terrifying World of Jaish-e-Mohammed (HarperCollins India, 2024), Terror Financing in Kashmir (Routledge, 2023), and Radicalisation in India: An Exploration (Pentagon, 2019). Dr Pandya is a Staff Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum (USA) and a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for National Security Studies of Ramaiah University, Bangalore.
He is the founder, Director, and CEO of Usanas Foundation, a security and foreign policy think tank based in India. As a CEO, he has curated four international security and foreign policy conferences titled Maharana Pratap Annual Geopolitics Dialogue 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs (Govt. of India). His articles and commentaries are featured in the National Interest (USA), Middle East Forum (US), 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, News 18, NDTV, Indian Defense Review, Indian Military Review, Policy Perspectives Foundation (India) and Quint. His research articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Perspectives on Terrorism (International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague), CLAWS Journal (CLAWS), and Strategic Analysis (IDSA).
He has delivered online and offline lectures at numerous prestigious national and international events and conferences, including "Dismantling Global Jihad" in the United States, the "Russophile Movement" in Russia, and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, APRI Forum (Armenia). Additionally, he has addressed NATO officers on terrorism-related issues at the Baltic Defence College, US Congressional staff members, the Vivekananda International Foundation, the Central Reserve Police Force of India, the Bureau of Police Research and Development, and the Indian Army. Furthermore, he is a member of the Harvard University Project on Trans-Caucasus.
He has been interviewed by Carnegie, Sputnik, New York Times, Russia Today, Civil Net (Armenia), APA News (Azerbaijan), Economic Times, News X (India), News 9, DD India, NBC (USA), Epoch Times, Zee News, Stratfor, Dainik Bhaskar, and many PhD scholars working in terrorism studies. Besides, he has been interviewed by top-ranking podcasts in India, including ANI, Jist Media, Vaad, Chakra News, India Today, Lallantop, and Aajtak.
Previously, he 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 Labour Organisation (ILO) and the 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.