Members
The Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) has over 180 members from 26 countries across Asia and the Pacific, consisting of former political, diplomatic and military leaders, senior government officials, and scholars and opinion leaders, dedicated to addressing security challenges in the Asia-Pacific, with a particular focus on nuclear non-proliferation, risk reduction, and disarmament.
Rakesh SOOD
Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, Former Ambassador of India
Rakesh Sood has served as Ambassador to Nepal, Afghanistan, France and the Conference on Disarmament, and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Nuclear Non-Proliferation.
Rakesh Sood is a former Indian diplomat, columnist, writer and expert on foreign affairs. He was appointed then Prime Minister’s (Mr. Manmohan Singh) special envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation in September, 2013. He has served as India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan and Nepal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India in Washington DC.
Among his other assignments abroad, Ambassador Sood has been First Secretary and Counsellor in India’s High Commission in Islamabadand First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Offices in Geneva, apart from serving in India’s diplomatic missions in Brussels and Dakar. Rakesh also served as Indian Ambassador to France with concurrent accreditation to Monaco. At the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Sood was Joint Secretary heading the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division.