About the Speaker
Ambassador DB Venkatesh Varma was a Member of the Indian Foreign Service from 1988 to 2021. During his diplomatic career, he has worked in the Ministry of External Affairs, in the Office of External Affairs Minister and in the Prime Minister’s Office. He served as India’s Ambassador to Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, to the Kingdom of Spain and to the Russian Federation, until October 2021. Amb. Varma has vast experience in India’s Security and Defence policies, including its nuclear, missile, and space programs. He was closely involved with developing India’s relations with Russia including Prime Minister Modi’s Act Far East Initiative, deepening of India’s Defence, Nuclear, Space, Energy, Commercial, Science & Technology and Cultural relations with Russia.
Amb. Varma was the first recipient of the S.K.Singh Award for Excellence in the Indian Foreign Service in 2011 for his contribution to the negotiations of the Civil Nuclear Initiative. He has lectured at the Russian Diplomatic Academy, the Russian General Staff Academy in Moscow, the National Defence College, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses and Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi, and the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad.