Ashok K. Kantha is former career diplomat who served as Secretary (East) in Ministry of External Affairs and Ambassador/High Commissioner to China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. He is presently Subhas Chandra Bose Chair Professor of International Relations at Chanakya University, Bangalore; Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi; Distinguished Fellow, Council for Strategic and Defence Research, New Delhi; Honorary Fellow and former Director (2017-22) of the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; and Chair of the Core Group on China of the Confederation of Indian Industry. 

In his diplomatic career, Kantha specialised in India’s neighbourhood and extended neighbourhood with a particular focus on China and South Asia.