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  • Ajey Lele

    Deputy Director General
    Email: 
    ddg.idsa@nic.in, ajey.lele@gmail.com
    Phone: 
    +91 11 2671 7983

    Group Captain (Dr) Ajey Lele (Retd.) is the Deputy Director General, MP-IDSA. Earlier, he was a Senior Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and headed its Centre on Strategic Technologies. He started his professional career as an officer in the Indian Air Force in 1987 and took early retirement from the service to pursue his academic interests. He has a Masters degree in Physics from Pune University, and Masters and MPhil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University. He has done his doctorate from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His specific areas of research include issues related to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Space Security and Strategic Technologies. He has contributed articles to various national and international journals, websites and newspapers. He has authored ten books and has also been an editor for seven books. He is a recipient of the K. Subrahmanyam Award (2013) which is conferred for outstanding contribution in the area of strategic and security studies.

    Statement at the 22nd Session of the Conference of States Parties (CSP-22) to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
    Ajey Lele at CTC 2017

    Select Publications

    • Deputy Director General, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt (Dr) Ajey V Lele’s article ‘MIRV technology – modernizing India’s nuclear arsenal’ has been published in Taaza Khabar News on 12 March 2024.

      India has started focussing on miniaturising technologies for nuclear weapons. Is India also interested in developing tactical nuclear weapons? No definitive conclusions could be drawn in this regard, however India must be monitoring the progress of Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons program, says Gp Capt (Dr) Lele.

      March 12, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘New FDI Policy to Propel Indian Space Sector to Greater Heights’ has been published in Geo Spatial World on 28 February 2024.

      There is great potential within the Indian industry and some of them are expected to offer a launch facility in the near future. In the coming future, after the operationalization of its Gaganyaan program, India should be able to exploit this technology for commercial purposes too, says Gp Capt Lele.

      February 28, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘The evolution of India’s weather satellite programs’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 19 February 2024.

      The time has come for IMD to look beyond ISRO and be involved in more international projects and engage India’s private industry to fulfill their requirements, says Gp Capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      February 19, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Russia-Ukraine War: Starlink Row Offers a Cautionary Tale on Role of Private Space Industry in Wars’ has been published in ‘The Wire’ on 16 February 2024.

      A controversy emerged after Ukraine claimed that the Russian forces are using Starlink internet services in occupied areas. Despite Space X claiming that it has no links with Russia, the controversy refuses to die down, says Gp Capt Lele.

      February 16, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s opinion piece ‘Space-related incidents during Taiwan’s elections’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 29 January 2024.

      There is a possibility that Taiwan could have used the opportunity of the flyover of the satellite launch vehicle to raise the China bogeyman during election time, says Gp Capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      January 29, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s opinion piece ‘The Moon is a Tough Customer’ has been published in ‘The Wire’ on 25 January 2024.

      Even with technologically developed states like Israel and Japan, the private industry is not experiencing success with missions such as Moon landings, says Gp capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      January 25, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘India’s mission for understanding the dynamics of the Sun’ has been published in The Space Review on 8 January 2024.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      January 08, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘PSLV-C58 mission: ISRO launches a science satellite’ has been published in Financial Express on 3 January 2024. This satellite would be looking for all around 50 potential cosmic sources to collect information and the mission life would be around five years, says Gp Capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      January 03, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘A Look at China’s Ambitious Spaceplane Missions’ has been published in The Wire on 1 January 2024. In December, China launched its third spaceplane mission, deploying six 'mysterious wingmen' into the Earth's orbit which are being tracked by the US Space Force, says Gp Capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      January 01, 2024
      IDSA News
    • Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt AjeyLele’s article ‘Henry Kissinger: The diplomat par excellence’ has been published in Financial Express on 01 December 2023.

      In the history of the US governments, he is the only individual till date, to hold a dual responsibility of national security adviser and secretary of state at the same time, says Gp Capt Lele.

      Read Complete Article [+]

      December 01, 2023
      IDSA News
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