Gulf Research Meeting
Talmiz Ahmad
GRM 2023 Workshop: The Gulf and the Horn of Africa: Trans-Regional Competition and Cooperation
GRM 2022 Workshop: Living Together Separately: social and cultural implications of migration to the GCC countries
GRM 2021 Workshop: Maritime Security and the Gulf States: Changing Strategies, New Political Rationales
GRM 2019 Workshop: A Peace Process for the Gulf: International Initiatives and Gulf Conflict Resolution
GRM 2018 Workshop: The Gulf and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
GRM 2017 Workshop: The GCC and the Indian Ocean: Economic Opportunities and Political Challenges
GRM 2016 Workshop: Collective Security in the Gulf: Prospects for Pan-Gulf Cooperation
Amb. Talmiz Ahmad joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. Early in his career, he was posted in a number of West Asian countries such as Kuwait, Iraq and Yemen and later, between 1987-90, he was Consul General in Jeddah. He also held positions in the Indian missions in New York, London and Pretoria. He was head of the Gulf and Hajj Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in 1998-2000. He served as Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia twice (2000-03; 2010-11); Oman (2003-04), and the UAE (2007-10). He was also Additional Secretary for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 2004-06, and Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi, in 2006-07. In July 2011, the Saudi Government conferred on him the King Abdul Aziz Medal First Class for his contribution to the promotion of Indo – Saudi relations. After retirement from foreign service in 2011, he worked in the corporate sector in Dubai for four years. He is now a full-time academic and holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune. He has published three books: Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates (2005), Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms (2010) and The Islamist Challenge in West Asia: Doctrinal and Political Competitions after the Arab Spring (2013). Many of his papers have been published in academic journals and in books. He writes regularly in the Indian and West Asian media and lectures on political Islam, the politics of West Asia and the Indian Ocean, and energy security issues.
