Colonel KK Venkatraman (Retd.)

Colonel KK Venkatraman (Retired) was commissioned in the Indian Army in December 1997. An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he has served extensively in Counter Terrorist Operations in Jammu and Kashmir, Counter Insurgency Operations in Assam and along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Theatre. He has served in General Staff appointments in the Eastern, Central and Northern theatres. While in service, the author was part of an in-service Study Group on “Teachings of Sun Tzu and its impact on Modern Day Polity, Society and Psyche” which piqued his life-long interest in China Studies. He holds an MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies from Punjabi University, Patiala. His MPhil dissertation entitled, “International Dynamics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): An Analytical Study”, analyses the BRI and its impact at the global, regional and national levels. He is currently pursuing his PhD in International Affairs at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, where he is working on China’s Holistic Approach to National Security. Previously, he was Research Fellow at Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi where he researched on ‘Application of Artificial Intelligence by PLA and its Implications on Warfighting’. The officer was NASC Fellow (Non-Resident) of 2023 and 2024 cohorts at The Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru where he researched on the PLA’s Western Theatre Command and the PLA Army Aviation respectively. He is a mentor at Atma Nirbhar Soch, independent think tank on Strategic Studies, and has delivered guest lectures at Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru and Delhi University. His weekly newsletter titled, “Tracking the PLA” covers happenings in the People’s Liberation Army of China.