Dr. Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan is a Distinguished Fellow and heads the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation. She is also a Non-Resident Indo-Pacific Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre from April-December 2020.
In 2018-2019, she was also the Technical Advisor to a new United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS). Dr. Rajagopalan joined ORF after a five-year stint at the National Security Council Secretariat (2003-2007), Government of India, where she was an Assistant Director. As a senior Asia defence writer for The Diplomat, she writes a weekly column on Asian strategic issues.
She has authored or edited nine books including Space Policy 2.0 (2017). She has been invited to speak at international fora including the United Nations Disarmament Forum (New York), the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) (Vienna), Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the European Union.
