2026 India Delegates
Founder & Chairman, Ma’din Academy, India
Sayyid Ibraheemul Khaleel Al Bukhari is one of India’s most recognized Muslim personalities, listed in The Muslim 500 among the world’s most influential leaders for his contributions to education and interfaith harmony. He has traveled globally, delivering lectures to thousands across over fifty countries and composing numerous scholarly works addressing both classical Islamic sciences and contemporary social issues. In 1997, he founded Ma’din Academy, with a vision to merge tradition with modern educational needs. From its humble origins, the academy has grown into one of the most respected educational movements in India, encompassing over 45 institutions and welcoming more than 25,000 students under its fold. He serves as General Secretary of the Kerala Muslim Jama’at—the umbrella body of Sunni organizations in Kerala—holds the post of Secretary in Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, and is Vice President of the Islamic Educational Board of India, which oversees schools across India, Asia, and Africa. As a member of the advisory board of Malaysia’s International Interfaith Harmony Initiative and managing editor of The Journal Armonia, he advances pluralism and holistic education worldwide. Sayyid Bukhari has penned over 22 books in Malayalam, English, and Arabic, exploring theology, ethics, and contemporary social issues with depth and clarity.
Director, India Foundation, India
Captain Alok Bansal is the Executive Vice President of India Foundation. He is also the Secretary General of Asian Eurasian Human Rights Forum. He was a member of the Planning Board of Union Territory of Ladakh. He was a visiting professor under the Pakistan Studies Programme of Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar Academy of International Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He was the Founder Executive Director of the South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs (SAISA) and the facilitator of India Policy Group (IPG) on Afghanistan for Track II Dialogues by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. He has been the Executive Director of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), for two years, a senior fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies for three years, and has worked with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi for over five years. He has also been associated with Jammu Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC), since inception. He has a defence background and served in the Indian Navy for 32 years, before seeking premature retirement as Captain. He has an MSc and MPhil degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from University of Madras and PhD in International Affairs from JNU. He has written extensively in international and Indian professional journals as well as for Indian, Pakistani, and international newspapers. He has participated in Track II Dialogues with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Turkey. He was also an international observer for the Presidential Elections in Uzbekistan in October 2021. He appears regularly in various radio and television talk shows and has authored numerous books, chapters, research papers, and articles.
Director, Parekh Institute of Indian Thought, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, India
Professor Rajeev Bhargava has been at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies since 2005 and is currently the director of its newly launched Institute of Indian Thought. He was the Director of the Centre from 2007-2014. He has been a professor at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1980-2005), and between 2001 and 2005 was Head, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. Bhargava received his BA in economics from the University of Delhi, and MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University. He has also been a Fellow at Harvard University, the University of Bristol, the Institute of Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin, and the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna. He has also been a distinguished resident scholar, Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life, Columbia University, and Asia Chair at Sciences Po, Paris. He is an honorary fellow, Balliol College, Oxford, and currently a professorial fellow at the Institute of Social Justice, ACU, Sydney. Bhargava’s publications include Individualism in Social Science (1992), What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (2010), and The Promise of India’s Secular Democracy (2010). His edited works are Secularism and Its Critics (1998) and Politics and Ethics of the Indian Constitution (2008). Bhargava is on the advisory board of several national and international institutions and was a consultant for the UNDP report on cultural liberty.
Distinguished Fellow, India Foundation, India
Rami Niranjan Desai is an anthropologist with subject expertise on the northeast region and South Asia. She has a BA (Hons) from University of Greenwich, London, UK, in Theology and a Master’s degree from King’s College, London, UK, in Anthropology of Religion. She has spent over 20 years studying insurgency, ethnic armed organisations, religion and identity issues focusing on India. As Director of Northeast Policy Institute, Guwahati, she conducted research on border issues and insurgency in the region. Since she moved back to Delhi, she has not only continued her research focusing on insurgency and secessionist movements but also collaborated and published books on various occasions with organisations and universities like Manipur University and Indira Gandhi National Tribal University. Rami is widely known for her fieldwork in conflict areas and is invited regularly by private and government organisations such as National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Indian Council of Social Sciences Research as well as other think tanks such as Observer Research Foundation and Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis. She also regularly takes courses at the Army War College, Mhow and HQ Eastern and Western Army Commands. Her inputs and analysis are relied upon by decision makers, policy makers and intellectuals alike. Rami has conducted extensive field work in Myanmar for the past year and was invited as an independent observer by the Union Election Commission of Myanmar in the recently concluded elections. Presently, she is a Distinguished Fellow with leading New Delhi based think tank India Foundation. She regularly contributes to journals such as Open Magazine, Indian Express and has a weekly column called Ramification in Firstpost and a bi-monthly column in The Print. Rami is also a regular television panelist.
President, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Ulsoor Bangalore, India
Jasbir Singh Dhody is a qualified finance professional and an entrepreneur. He currently serves as the managing director of a manufacturing company based in Bengaluru. With decades of leadership experience in industry, he brings a strong understanding of governance, accountability, ethics, and institutional management. Dhody is a practicing Sikh with a deep and sustained engagement in the spiritual, religious, and ethical teachings of Sikhism. He has been actively involved in the management and administration of Gurdwaras, and served as President of the Ulsoor Gurdwara Management Committee, where he worked on issues of governance, transparency, community welfare, and religious harmony. Dhody has represented the Sikh community in numerous interfaith dialogues, religious studies programs, and civil society initiatives across various districts of Karnataka.
Faculty, Brahma Kumaris, India
Sister BK Gitanjali is a gold medalist in Computer Science. She has worked with world's top notch MNC's including Microsoft, and has been the co-founder of many security startups. With nearly a decade of experience in Data Science, she has contributed to the creation and implementation of many AI & machine learning solutions across diverse domains, including IBM Watson. Her achievements include the filing of 2 patents and the publication of 3 technical papers in these fields. She was enlightened by the profound insights given by Brahma Kumaris. Inspired by the practical benefits of the Rajyoga meditation, she decided to dedicate her life to the upliftment of society. Her passion lies in addressing the real-world challenges through the power of Rajyoga. She is a member of the faculty at Brahma Kumaris. She is the core group member of the Inter-Religious Harmany Movement in India and has shared the message of Unity and Trust in many Inter-Religious Dialogues. She inspires youth, women, scientists, educationists, and leaders from different domains with her deep insights of divine knowledge, and conducts Inspirational talks and corporate trainings at various organizations such as NIT, IIT, IBA, KIMS, KVs, Microsoft, and Nutanix.
Lawyer and Partner, Associated Law Advisers, India
Lira Goswami is a founding partner of Associated Law Advisers. She has a law degree from Delhi University, a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York City, and more than 30 years of experience in international business transactions and strategic advisory work. She regularly advises multinational clients doing business in India and also foreign governments and diplomatic missions, such as the British and Canadian High Commission and foreign governments. Ms. Goswami is an independent director on the boards of Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Cummins India Limited. She was formerly a member of the governing board of Kamla Nehru College, where she recently instituted the Significant Impact Award for students who are making a major impact on the lives of others. She mentored the college’s spring 2022 cohort of global policy diplomacy, and sustainability students and regularly speaks on cross-border issues, sustainability, moral leadership, and empowerment of women. Her pro bono activities include legal assistance for charitable organizations including Save the Children.
Former Election Commissioner and Finance Secretary for India & former Vice President of Asian Development Bank, India
In a career spanning 45 years, The Honorable Ashok Lavasa was Election Commissioner of India; Vice President, Asian Development Bank; Union Finance & Expenditure Secretary; Secretary, Environment, Forest & Climate Change; and Secretary, Civil Aviation. As Election Commissioner of India, Ashok oversaw the conduct of the general elections 2019 to the Lok Sabha and the general elections of 17 state assemblies involving over 900 million voters. As Vice President, ADB, he expanded the role of the private sector in economic activities in Asia and the Pacific, promoted public private partnership in infrastructure development and provision of services, and worked for the promotion of climate action, gender balance, and the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Ashok led the Indian delegation in COP21 in negotiating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Montreal Protocol on Ozone in Dubai, the International Convention on Desertification in Ankara, and the Convention on Biodiversity in South Korea. He negotiated several important multilateral loans for India and took part in several other international fora. Ashok was instrumental in finalizing India’s Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the UNFCCC in 2015. He has a Master of Philosophy (Defence & Strategic Studies), Madras University, a Master in Business Administration, Southern Cross University, Australia, and an MA in English and a BA (Hons.) in English, Delhi University He is the author of Echoes of Faith, An Ordinary Life: Portrait of an Indian Generation , and An Uncivil Servant, as weel as several essays, and over 80 articles for magazines and newspapers.
Vice-Chancellor/President, Chanakya National Law University, India
Prof. Faizan Mustafa is the Vice-Chancellor of Chanakya National Law University, Patna. He is the senior-most vice-chancellor in India today. He was a professor of law at Aligarh Muslim University. For ten years, he served as Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. He is the Founder Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Orissa, and an advisor to National Law School & Judicial Academy, Assam. He is visiting faculty at several reputed institutions in India and abroad. He was the Founder Director of KIIT Law School, Bhubaneshwar. Before that he was the Dean, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University and Registrar, Aligarh Muslim University. Mustafa was the recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship and the Fulbright Fellowship and received the SAARC’s Best Law Teacher Award in 2014. He was the President and Vice-President of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI). He has served as the Vice-President and President of the Consortium of National Law Universities. He has written eight books and contributed more than 400 articles, been quoted by the Supreme Court of India, and is a member of several governing councils (courts), executive councils, and academic councils of various universities. He was nominated by the Chief Justice of India to several councils and committees and was the President of India’s nominee to several universities. He has also been a member of 11 search committees for the appointment of the vice-chancellors and was a member of the General Council of the Association of Indian Universities. He runs a YouTube Channel, Legal Awareness Web Series, which has some 50 million viewers and over 700000 subscribers.
Member, Interfaith Coalition for Peace, India
Dr. Ajmer Singh believes engagement and dialogue are essential to conflict resolution and the building of peaceful societies, and this belief has guided his life’s journey. Dr. Singh is a former Indian Army Captain, journalist, editor, Doctor of Divinity, and visiting professor. He was commissioned into the Indian Army as a Short Service Officer before transitioning to journalism, where he spent over two decades with national media organizations, including The Economic Times, The Indian Express, the India Today Group, and NDTV 24x7. He has covered politics, governance, the energy sector, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the judiciary. Since January 2024, he has worked in an advisory capacity, offering consultancy to media organizations, writing opinion pieces, and teaching journalism. Dr. Singh served as editor of a leading English-language daily in Kashmir. In addition to conflict and human rights reporting, the daily focused on citizen-centric journalism, highlighting issues related to mental health, cardiac care, and women’s health. This approach helped shape narratives that restored dignity and hope in a region deeply marked by conflict. Academically, Dr. Singh is a gold medalist in Public Administration from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He is a long-distance runner who values endurance, both in life and in peacebuilding.
