Dr. Rajan Sudesh Ratna joined DAKSHIN – Global South Centre of Excellence at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, on 1 April 2026 as Coordinator. In this capacity, he provides strategic leadership to the Centre, guiding its academic and programmatic agenda to foster meaningful multi-country collaboration across the Global South.

Dr. Ratna is a distinguished development policy specialist with over four decades of experience spanning multilateral diplomacy, government service, and academic leadership. He has an extensive and proven track record in negotiating international trade agreements, shaping national foreign trade policy, and strengthening institutional capacities in the domain of global economic governance.

He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and an M.Phil. in Environmental Sciences. In addition, he has completed an Executive Programme on Trade Policy and Negotiations from Harvard University. He maintains active professional affiliations with leading trade policy institutes, academic networks, and multilateral forums.

Prior to joining RIS, Dr. Ratna served for 14 years with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, including as Deputy Head of its South and South-West Asia Office in New Delhi. In this role, he led regional programmes, policy dialogues, and technical assistance initiatives across South and South-West Asia, contributing significantly to regional cooperation and development policy frameworks.

Dr. Ratna is a career civil servant from the Indian Trade Service (Group A, 1987 batch), with over 25 years of service in the Government of India. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in the formulation of India’s Foreign Trade Policy and was actively engaged in World Trade Organization (WTO) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. He also served as Head and Professor at the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), from 2008 to 2010.

An accomplished scholar, Dr. Ratna has authored numerous books and research articles on international trade, development policy, and economic governance.

For correspondence, he may be reached at: coordinator@dakshin.org.in