Rear Admiral Dalbir Singh Gujral, NM (Retd) is the Director (Administration) at the USI of India and Director, USI CUNS. He is an alumnus of the 69th Course, National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on 01 January 1987. As a non-specialist, he held the appointment of Navigating Officer, INS Cheetah, and participated in Op Pawan, the Indian Peace Keeping Mission in Sri Lanka.
In 1993, he specialised in Communication and Electronic Warfare at the Signal School, Kochi, where he topped the course. Thereafter, he held the appointment of Signal Communications Officer of INS Khanjar and was subsequently deputed to the United Kingdom as commissioning Signal Communications Officer of INS Krishna.
His other important afloat appointments include Executive Officer of the missile corvette INS Nashak and of the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi. His commands include those of the missile corvettes INS Nishank and INS Karmuk, and the guided missile frigate INS Trishul.
Ashore, he has served as Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and as Officer-in-Charge of the Signal School, and has carried out the duties of Deputy Director Naval Signals (Plans), Director Naval Operations, and Principal Director Network and Space Operations.
He has undergone the Joint Staff Course at the Collège interarmées de défense, France, in 2000-01, and the Higher Command Course at the Naval War College, Mumbai, in 2007-08.
On promotion to Flag Rank, he held the appointment of Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communications, Space and Net-Centric Operations) at Naval Headquarters. During this period, he was a key member of the Ministry of Defence team negotiating COMCASA and BECA with the US Government in 2018-20. During the critical period of the Pulwama terrorist attack and the subsequent Indian Air Force strikes on terror camps in Balakot on 27 February 2019, the Flag Officer was officiating as Director General Naval Operations and coordinated operational planning with the other two Services.
Subsequently, he held the appointments of Chief of Staff at Headquarters Andaman and Nicobar Command and Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Financial Planning and Administration) at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
Prior to retirement, the Flag Officer underwent the Independent Director’s Programme at the Indian Institute of Management, Mumbai, in October 2023. After a glorious service of more than 37 years, he superannuated on 31 January 2024 and is currently settled in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Major General PK Goswami, VSM (Retd) is the Deputy Director General at the USI of India and former Director, USI CUNS. He is also the Chief Coordinator for all activities related to the United Nations and Peacekeeping.
He served as a Military Observer with the United Nations Verification Mission in Angola (UNAVEM) from 1991 to 1992. He was also Senior Directing Staff at the National Defence College, New Delhi.
Lieutenant General Jabir Lidder, UYSM, AVSM (Retd) was commissioned into 3 Grenadiers in June 1969, the battalion he fought the 1971 War with and later commanded. He commanded a brigade on the Line of Control and a counter-insurgency force in South Kashmir, and served as Commandant, Infantry School. The officer is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College.
The General has rich United Nations experience in both the military and the political spectrum. He was Military Chief of Staff of the UN Mission in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) in 1994-95. He later served as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) from January 2006 to May 2008, where he played the pivotal role in redeploying the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to either side of Line 1/1/56.
Post-retirement, as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Political) of the same mission, based at Juba, he coordinated the political processes resulting in the birth of the Republic of South Sudan on 09 July 2011. The General is actively engaged with UN offices and global institutions as an author, mentor and trainer.
Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha, AVSM, VSM (Retd) is presently working as Director with TAC Security, a leading global cyber security company. He regularly writes for the USI and for e-magazines such as lokmarg.com and news18.com on strategic issues and international relations.
General Singha has acted in several OTT series, including Avrodh, Regimental Diaries, General and His Son, and A General Retires. He is an advisor on military matters to Pocket Aces. A peacekeeping and negotiations expert, as Head of Mission at the Golan Heights in Syria he saved nearly 200 lives of peacekeepers and journalists. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the United Service Institution of India.
Major General Alok Deb, SM, VSM (Retd) served in the Indian Army for close to four decades. He has experience of command in diverse operational areas, commencing with an artillery regiment in the Kargil War, during which he was decorated for gallantry.
He holds an MSc in Defence Studies from the Defence Services Staff College, India, and later earned two MPhil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies, after qualifying at the Higher Command and National Defence College courses, both in India. He has been an instructor at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and Colonel (Plans) of a Strike Corps. He has had two tenures in the Military Secretary’s Branch at Army Headquarters and has served as a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon.
He has commanded an Artillery Division as part of a Strike Corps on India’s western border and was Senior Operational Logistics Staff in the Western Theatre. Post-retirement, he became the Deputy Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). He was a member of the DRDO’s System Analysis and Modelling Advisory Council. Based in Pune, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the USI of India and a Senior Visiting Fellow at The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai.
Major General (Dr) AK Bardalai (Retd) was commissioned into the Indian Army on 11 June 1977. He is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (India), and an alumnus of Tilburg University, the Netherlands.
He commanded an infantry battalion in the Siachen Glacier, an infantry brigade in North-East India and an infantry division in the Western Theatre, and was the Commandant of the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), Bhutan. He has served with the United Nations as a Military Observer in Angola and as Deputy Head of Mission and Deputy Force Commander of UNIFIL (Lebanon). He holds a PhD in UN Peace Operations from Tilburg University.
Dr KK Sharma (Retd) served in Army Air Defence at various locations, including the glaciers, and retired from the appointment of Chief Instructor, Tactical and Combat Wing, Army Air Defence College. He is a Professor and Dean in Global Education Programs at Chitkara University.
He is a student of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources, with experience in leadership positions in the Indian Army, in UN Peace Operations and with the UNHCR. His academic teaching and research experience spans from 1985 to the present, in multiple positions at the national and global levels. He holds a PhD in Management (Zurich) and an MBA (HRM). He has authored six books and 26 research papers, and has presented papers at many national and international seminars and conferences. He is presently a Visiting Fellow at the United Service Institution of India.