22 PLUS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

1. CREDENTIAL
Name: Miss Seema Sengupta
Present Status: Journalist & Columnist
Educational Qualification: Bachelor of Arts with Journalism from University of Calcutta.
Additional Qualification: Has successfully completed a certificate course in Television news reading,
anchoring programs from Indian Institute of Film Studies, Calcutta, India.
Awards & Titles:
(1) Recipient of NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE in appreciation of Excellent Services in the field
of FREELANCE JOURNALISM.
(2) Recipient of KRIYA VISHARAD Title for expertise in Indian classical dance form Bharatnatyam.
Additional Experience: Worked briefly to promote and market the The Korea Times brand as a
lucrative platform for the industry to reach out to consumers with varied products, mainly in India,
South Asian region as well as Middle-East and other parts of the globe.
Brief Profile:
Calcutta (India) based journalist and columnist, contributing regular columns in reputed publications
in the Middle-East, elsewhere in Asia and across the globe for the last several years and syndicated
widely. In my 22 years long career I have written extensively on international relations, especially on
Middle-East and South Asian affairs, as well as social and economic issues of regional and global
importance, offering unique perspective in each case. Also, eminent people from various fields have
quoted extensively from my work. During the course of my work, I got the opportunity to
communicate with and conduct interviews of important and eminent national and international
personalities gracing high positions. In addition to my regular contributions, I have had the privilege
of being specially commissioned by reputed publications like The Guardian, New Statesman, Gulf
News (Dubai), Arab News (Saudi Arabia & Pakistan), Asia Times (Hong Kong) and others. I wrote on
specific topics that Editors found relevant to their esteemed publication’s coverage.
ARTICLES AND SPECIAL STORIES CARRIED BY:
Foreign Publications:
* The Maldives Journal
* Khmer Times
* Al Bilad English
* Arab News.
* Gulf News.

2. * Middle East Monitor
* New Statesman.
* Asia Times.
* The Guardian.
* The Age/Sydney Morning Herald.
* South China Morning Post.
* Muscat Daily,
* Borneo Bulletin.
* The Korea Times.
* Eurasia Review,
* South Asia Journal
* Some of my articles have been reproduced in the websites of South Asian Free Media Association
(SAFMA based in Lahore – Pakistan) and Diplomatic Journal ‘News Behind News.’
Indian Publications:
* The Telegraph,
* The Pioneer,
* The Tribune
* The Bengal Post
* The Asian Age
* Selected columns are preserved in the Indian Parliament Library for Honorable lawmakers’
reference and use in parliamentary debates and discussions.
In the course of my 22 years career, I have communicated with and conducted interviews,
INCLUDING EMAIL, of (among others):
* Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan – former President, Republic of Maldives. He is currently senior
adviser to the main opposition, Progressive Party of Maldives.
* Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, former Prime Minister of Nepal, Marxist scholar, politician and a former
guerrilla leader.

3. * Mr. Mohamed Hussain Shareef, Vice President, People's National Congress, Maldives. Previously,
he served as Minister at the President's Office and Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports.
Mr. Shareef was also Maldives' Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Japan.
* Mr. Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, Member of Parliament and Deputy Leader of the opposition
Progressive Party of Maldives.
* Mr. Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, eminent Nepalese geographer specialising on border issues and
former Director General of the Land Survey Department of Nepal. Mr. Shrestha headed the Nepal–
India joint boundary committee and served on Nepal–China joint boundary committee. He is also on
the Board of Nepal's Institute of Foreign Affairs, as a nominee of government.
* Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of Iran. He was the Permanent Representative of Iran to
the United Nations from 2002 to 2007 and advised the Foreign Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister
on Legal and International affairs previously. He is a member of the UN Eminent Persons Group on
Dialogue Among Civilizations and Head of the UN Disarmament Commission in New York.
* Dr. Atul Ambekar, Professor of Psychiatry, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India
Institute of Medical Science and Nominated Member, Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence:
World Health Organization, Geneva.
* Mr. Johan Obdola, former law enforcement professional, eminent expert in Narco-Terrorism and
ex-Chief of Counter-Narcotics Special Unit, Venezuela.
* Dr. Faizullah Kakar, an eminent epidemiologist and the immediate past Chief of Staff to
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. He is also a former Afghan Ambassador to Qatar, Adviser to
Afghan President on Health and Education, and the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan.
* Mr. Zabihullah Mujahid, Spokesman, The Taliban, Afghanistan.
* Ms. Habiba Sarabi, Deputy Chair, Afghan High Peace Council. She is a former Governor of Bamyan
Province and ex-Minister of Culture and Education as well as Women’s Affairs.
* Mr. Habiburrahman Hekmatyar, Chief of Staff to Hezb-e-Islami, Afghanistan.
* Mr. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan and founder leader of Hezb-e-
Islami-Afghanistan.
* Mr. Ghulam Hassan Gran – senior adviser to the Afghan Interior Ministry, and Parliament’s ex-
Secretary General.
* Dr. Baron Jean-Louis Vincent, a renowned internal medicine specialist. He is a Professor of
intensive care medicine at the Université libre de Bruxelles, and intensivist in the Department of
Intensive Care at Erasme University Hospital in Brussels. Dr Vincent is the immediate past-President
of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and ex-President of the
European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the European Shock Society, the Belgian Society of
Intensive Care Medicine and the International Sepsis Forum. He was a Council member of the
Society of Critical Care Medicine from 2011-2013. He is also a member of the Belgian Royal Academy
of Medicine.

4. * Dr. Anil Khurana, an eminent alternative medicine expert. He serves as the acting Director General
of Indian government sponsored Central Homeopathic Research Council.
* Dr. Bishwajit Kundu, an eminent expert on protein science and engineering at Indian Institute of
Technology’s School of Biological Sciences. His team found certain similarities in COVID-19 virus and
HIV-AIDS genomes.
* Dr. V.M. Katoch, former Secretary in the Department of Health Research, Government of India,
and ex-Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research – the apex body for formulation,
coordination and promotion of biomedical research in the country.
* Mr. Li Xiaojun, Director of Publicity, Bureau of Human Rights Affairs in the State Council (China's
cabinet) Information Office, Beijing.
* Mr. Michael Dottridge, eminent Child Labour, Slavery and Human Rights Expert. He spent 27 years
working in Human Rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery
International, where he was director for six years. He also serves as a trustee of the UN Slavery Fund.
* Mr. Ganesh Shah, Nepal’s former environment minister.
* Dr. Zafar Adeel, Executive Director of Pacific Water Research Centre, Simon Fraser University and
former Chair, UN-Water. He previously served as Director of United Nations University Institute for
Water, Environment and Health and co-chaired the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment team that
produced the global desertification synthesis in 2005. Dr. Adeel authored several books on water
security and management.
* Professor Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz, Vice-Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University,
Hyderabad, India.
* Professor Zafarul Islam, an eminent Historian and Islamic and Qur’anic scholar. He is a former
Chairman of Department of Islamic Studies at India’s renowned Aligarh Muslim University and a
member of the management committee at Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy. Professor Islam also
serves as Secretary of Idarah Ulumul Quran, an institution promoting research in Qur’anic Studies.
* Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood, retired Indian civil servant, and former Indian Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh appointed officer on special duty to the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee, tasked
with ascertaining the socioeconomic status of Muslims in contemporary India.
* Mr. Ghanashyam Upadhyaya, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation,
Government of Nepal, who is a leading member of a task force set up to identify the problems in
mountaineering tourism, ascertain causes of rising deaths of climbers in Mount Everest and
recommend remedies to mitigate the risks.
* Mr. Kul Bahadur Gurung, General Secretary of Nepal Mountaineering Association.
* Mr. Svein Tveitdal, former UN Environment Director and polar adviser to the executive director of
the UN Environment Program.
* Ms. Wazhma Frogh, eminent peace activist and member, Afghanistan’s High Peace Council.

5. * Mr. John Hendra, former Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.
* Mr. Jairam Ramesh, India’s former environment minister and a commissioner for the Lancet’s
Commission on Pollution and Health.
* Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, former regional director overseeing World Health Organization’s
South-East Asia operations and ex-adviser to Thailand’s Public Health Minister.
* Mr. Sangye Chewang, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat’s
Director for Environment, Natural Disaster and Biotechnology.
* Mr. Nasrul Hamid – Bangladesh’s minister of state for power, energy and mineral resources.
* Mr Ye Htut, former Information Minister and Presidential Spokesperson, Republic of the Union of
Myanmar. Mr. Htut is presently Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
* Mr. Vyacheslav Trubnikov – Russia’s former Deputy Foreign Minister and ex-chief of Russian
foreign intelligence.
* Ambassador Richard Boucher – former US Assistant Secretary of State.
* Ambassador Amjad Sial – Secretary General, SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation).
* Mr. Jairam Ramesh – Former Indian Environment Minister and Commissioner,
The Commission on Pollution and Health, The Lancet.
* Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang – former regional director overseeing the WHO’s South-East Asia
operations and ex-adviser to Thailand’s Public Health Minister
* Mr Pushpanathan Sundram, former Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, for ASEAN Economic
Community. He was instrumental in the development of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN Economic
Community blueprint and Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.
* Ambassador Salman Bashir, Eminent Pakistani Diplomat, Former Foreign Secretary
& High Commissioner of Pakistan to India.
* Professor Tomohiko Taniguchi – special advisor to Japanese Premier Mr. Shinzo Abe.
* Mr. Sangye Chewang – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat’s
Director for Environment, Natural Disaster and Biotechnology.
* Dr. Anil Kakodkar – eminent nuclear scientist and the former Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy
Commission.
* Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan – Eminent Indian space scientist and former Chairman of India’s
elite space agency ISRO.
* Ambassador Skand Ranjan Tayal, Eminent Diplomat, Former Indian Ambassador to Republic of
Korea & Vice President of India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society. A renowned expert of Korean

6. affairs, Ambassador Tayal has authored a book titled “India and Republic of Korea: Engaged
Democracies.”
* Ambassador Sharat Sabharwal, Eminent Diplomat & Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan.
* Ambassador Gurjit Singh, eminent diplomat and former Indian Envoy to Indonesia and ASEAN.
Ambassador Singh has authored two books on India-Indonesia relations.
* Mr. Gopal K Pillai, former Indian Home and Commerce Secretary and chief negotiator at the WTO.
Mr. Pillai also successfully negotiated comprehensive economic partnership agreements with
Singapore, Japan, South Korea, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and the ASEAN.
He helped bolster and broaden India’s engagements with SAARC and the African Continent.
Moreover, Mr. Pillai was instrumental in the enactment of the SEZ Act, 2005 and the setting up of
over 140 Special Economic Zones in India which created over 1.6 million jobs.
* Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, eminent diplomat and former Indian Ambassador to Myanmar. He also
served as Director General, Indian Council of World Affairs. Ambassador Bhatia is a Distinguished
Fellow at Gateway House – a foreign policy think tank and the author of an authoritative book, titled
“India-Myanmar Relations: Changing Contours,” on India's multi-faceted relations with Myanmar.
* Dr. Otman Al-Basir – Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Canada’s University of
Waterloo. Dr. Al-Basir was the Prime Ministerial candidate of House of Representatives (HoR) for
National Accord government. Though representing Tripolitania, Dr. Al-Basir has strong backing
among HoR members beyond Tripolitania too.
* Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian – Middle-East security specialist and Iran’s nuclear
negotiator.
* Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, former Indian Envoy to Libya. Ambassador Trigunayat had previously
handled evacuation of Indians and kidnapping cases between 2012 and 2014, in Libya. He is also
Adviser to FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries) on MENA & AFRICA /
BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industries. Ambassador Trigunayat is currently functioning as
Secretary, Association of Indian Diplomats.
* Ambassador Ahmad Saleem – Maldives’ Envoy to Pakistan and former SAARC Secretary General.
* Ambassador Shashank – former Indian Foreign Secretary.
* Ambassador Kedar Shrestha – Nepal’s former foreign secretary.
* Ambassador Aziz Ahmad Khan – former Pakistani High Commissioner to India.
* Mr. Uri Shani – former director general of Israel’s Water Authority.
* Mr. Hirotaka Matsushima – Director of the International Peace Promotion Department, Hiroshima
City, Japan.
* Dr. Satinder Singh Bajaj – former Chairman of India’s civil nuclear safety regulator, Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board.

7. * Dr. LV Krishnan – Adjunct Faculty at India based National Institute of Advanced Studies’
International Strategic and Security Studies Program and former Director of the Safety Research
Group at Chennai’s Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research.
* Mr. Tarique Ghaffur – former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London.
* Mr. Dhruva Jaishankar – Brookings India foreign policy fellow.
* Professor Phunchok Stobdan – former Indian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and renowned expert on
Eurasian affairs.
* Professor Zhang Li – Director at Sichuan University’s Center of Afghan and Regional Security
Studies.
* Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf – senior researcher at Heidelberg University’s South Asia Institute and a
former consultant with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
* Professor Dr. Wakar Uddin, Director General at Arakan Rohingya Union – a federation of 61
Rohingya organizations worldwide, working on a mission to seek a political solution to the issues
faced by the Rohingya ethnic minority populace in Myanmar. The Arakan Rohingya Union was
formed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and is recognized by all member states as the
official organization of the Rohingya people.
* Ambassador Kishan S Rana – former Indian Ambassador to Germany.
* Mr. K. Padmanabhaiah – former Indian Home Secretary.
* Professor Gull Mohammad Wani – Director at UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute of Kashmir
Studies, Kashmir University. Professor Wani has been involved in back-channel India-Pakistan peace
initiatives and authored authoritative books on Kashmir’s autonomy and self-rule.
* Dr. Emani A.S. Sarma – former Indian government secretary, renowned for launching genuine
tribal welfare measures.
* Ambassador Rajendra Abhayankar – India’s former Ambassador to Syria.
* Ambassador Amitava Tripathi – India’s first Director at SAARC Secretariat.
* Professor Ainun Nishat – eminent water expert and ex-member of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint River
Commission.
* Ambassador Farooq Sobhan – Bangladesh’s former foreign secretary and president of Bangladesh
Enterprise Institute.
* Mr. Arjun Thapan – chair of UNESCO’S International Hydrological Programme Advisory Board and
chairman WaterLinks
* Dr. Arvind Virmani – former chief economic adviser to the Indian government.
* Ms. K. Sujatha Rao – former secretary of health and family welfare in the Indian government.

8. * Dr. Alwyn Didar Singh – retired bureaucrat in the Indian government and principal advisor to the
president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
* Mr. Viren Shetty – senior vice-president of strategy and planning at India’s famed Narayana
Hrudayalaya Hospital Group involved in developing low cost yet high quality healthcare
infrastructure in Cayman Islands.
* Mr. Adriano Gonzalez Regueral – senior international advisor, child rights' issues. He has been
associated with UNICEF as International Consultant and Representative. Mr. Adriano has more than
30 years of international experience on Social Development, Children’s Rights and Humanitarian
Affairs.
* Dr. Kriti Bharti – rehabilitation psychologist and managing trustee of Saarthi Trust, responsible for
the first ever child marriage annulment in India. Dr. Kriti is a recipient of numerous awards for her
acts of courage and received a fellowship from the British Government and Thomson Reuters
Corporation. Her inspiring story is part of school (CBSE) curriculum in India and the Limca Book of
Records hosts Dr. Kriti’s name for her unique, phenomenal work.
* Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo – former Sri Lankan foreign secretary, who also served as the secretary-
general of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
* Professor S.D. Muni – former Indian diplomat and an eminent South Asia expert, apart from being
the first Indian to be conferred ‘Sri Lanka Ratna’ — Sri Lanka’s highest national honor.
* Mr. Weerakoon Wijewardena – former deputy governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank.
* Dr. Prodipto Ghosh – former economic adviser to the Indian prime minister and government
secretary.
* Professor Sher Mehta, Economist and econometrician and founded the Macroeconomics School in
London and New Delhi.
* Professor Gokhan Bacik – an eminent Turkey-Syria expert.
* Professor Stephen Blank – Russia expert at America’s Foreign Policy Council.
* Mr. Alexander Kuznetsov – renowned Russian Middle-East expert and Deputy Director of the
Moscow-based Institute of Forecasting and Resolving Political Conflicts.
* Dr.Talal Bakfalouni – senior health administrator and the former Director of Planning and
International Cooperation, Syrian Health Ministry.
* Mr. Arif Alauddin – former chief of Pakistan’s Alternative Energy Development Board.
* Dr. Houssam Alnahhas – expert in formulating response protocol for chemical weapons attacks
and the coordinator of Syria’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Task Force.
* Professor Anu Muhammad – member-secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas,
Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, a Bangladeshi civil society group.

9. * Mr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya – eminent Sri Lankan energy expert and former chief engineer of the
Ceylon Electricity Board.
* Engineer Ravinder – Ex-Chairperson and Member (Power Systems) at India’s Central Electricity
Authority
* Ambassador Alexander Benedict – Austrian Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of
Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, liaising with the IAEA.
* Mr. Joseph Cirincione – a highly acclaimed nuclear expert, author of several books on nuclear
security, president of global security foundation Ploughshares Fund and a member of US Secretary
of State John Kerry's International Security Advisory Board as well as the Council on Foreign
Relations.
* Mr. Mohamed Ben Ghalbon – Exiled Libyan Opposition leader and Chairman of Libyan
Constitutional Union. Interview translated in Arabic.
* Mr. Anas Abdah – presently President of National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition
Forces. Chairman of the Movement for Justice and Development (MJD) and the elected head of
Damascus Declaration Committee Abroad.
* Mr. Sam Zarifi – Amnesty’s International’s Asia Pacific Director.
* Dr Marc G.L. Derveeuw – UNFPA former Deputy Representative in India, presently Representative
in Cambodia.
* Dr Shabir Choudhry – Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs, London.
* Mr. Prakash Singh, IPS (Retd.), Ex-DG, Border Security Force and renowned Internal Security Expert
and former member of India’s National Security Advisory Board.
* Mr Jean-Christian Rémond – Division Head of European External Action Service, European Union.
* Mr.Alan Collaco – Secretary General of Advertising Standards Council of India.
* Mr. BD Sharma, former Director of Central Zoo Authority.
* Mr. Debashis Sen, Former Chief Electoral Officer, Province of West Bengal, India and presently
Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Information Technology Department , Government of West
Bengal.
* Retired Ambassador G Parthasarathy – Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and back-
channel negotiator.
* Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu – Executive Director at Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, Sri
Lanka.
QUOTE FROM MY COLUMNS:
I have been quoted extensively by people from various fields.

10. * My article used as a reference point by Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Mr. Khurshid Mahmud
Kasuri in his book “Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider's Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy.”
My article used as a reference point by Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun and Dr Susanne Schmeier in their
authoritative book “River Basin Organizations in Water Diplomacy.” Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun is the
Chief Strategy and Partnership Officer of the Mekong River Commission, leading the office of CEO
while Dr. Susanne Schmeier is an Associate Professor of Water Law and Diplomacy at IHE Delft
Institute for Water Education, operating under UNESCO’s auspices.
* Dr. Vincent Wei-Cheng Wang, now Dean at School of Humanities and Sciences, University of
Richmond made references from my column in his paper "Indian Perspectives on the Rise of China:
Geopolitical, Geoeconomic, and Geocivilizational Paradigms," published in Tamkang University’s
Tamkang Journal of International Affair.
* Dr. Sudhir Kumar Singh Yadav made references from my column in his paper "Anti- Corruption
Movements & Measures in India," published in Review Journal, Philosophy and Social Science (A
Refereed International Journal) edited by Dr. Krishna K. Verma, Associate Professor in Commerce
and Manaagement at HNB Garhwal University, India. The author, Dr. Sudhir Kumar Singh Yadav is
Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Trade and Commerce, published by Indian Institute of
Advanced Research in Trade and Commerce and Associate Professor at Department of Commerce,
Meerut College, Chaudhury Charan Singh University, India.
* Quoted by eminent Pakistani Columnist Mr. Waqar Ahmed.
* Quoted by strategic affairs expert Group Captain (Retd) Sultan M Hali of Pakistan Air Force.
* Quoted by Ms. Wendela de Vries, coordinator Dutch and European Network against Arms Trade.
* Author Colonel Ved Prakash, who served in India’s volatile Northeast for more than a decade has
made references from my column in his widely acclaimed book “Terrorism in India's North-east: A
Gathering Storm.”
* Quoted by Major General Sudhir G Vombatkere, retired Additional Director General of Indian Army
and Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Iowa, USA.
* Quoted by Mr. Andre Vltchek, a novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist who covered wars
and conflicts in dozens of countries.
* Quoted by Dr. Mozammel Haque, Media Advisor of the Islamic Cultural Centre, London and former
Editor of the Makkah-based Muslim World League Journal.
* Quoted by noted Kashmiri columnist Mr. Zahid G Muhammad.
* Quoted by Mr. Dirgha Raj Prasai, former Member of Parliament in Nepal, former adviser Ministry
Development Committee and a political analyst.
* Dr. Sandhya Mehta made references from my column in her paper "Leadership, Change and
Motivation: A Study with Reference to Indian Air Force" published in the special issue of
International Journal of Science Technology and Management, a peer reviewed international
journal. Dr. Mehta is Deputy Director, Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology, India and

11. has been a member in the International Advisory Council of International Forum of Management
Scholars.
* Contributed a series on Sri Lankan affairs including the Presidential election, political situation and
road to reconciliation. Was quoted by Ms. Melanie Gouby, eminent French journalist specializing in
conflict and transitional justice reporting and Radio Producer with Institute for War and Peace
Reporting in her article titled “Sri Lanka’s war chiefs fight for the spoils of peace.”