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Colonel Dr. Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay (Retd.) has seen action in several disturbed areas of the country. He earned a Shaurya Chakra for gallantry beyond the call of duty in Tamenglong, Manipur where he is remembered for the evacuation of wounded children despite having himself received life threatening injuries. On his retirement, the villagers made him an honorary member of their tribe for his humanitarian actions and in recognition of the development initiatives taken by him in the region including a national highway sanctioned by the Government of India.
Col. Pillay has held several assignments in his 29-year career in the Indian Army. Besides several field assignments, he was selected by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to serve at the Military School, Bangalore to inspire cadets to join the Armed Forces. In 2003, he was selected for Project Beta which delivered a handheld PDA for use by the Infantry in counter insurgency operations. This was a very unique military-funded IT enterprise. For his contribution to the project, he was awarded the COAS Commendation Card in 2005.
In January 2006, he was selected as Planning Officer (Defence) in the Planning and International Cooperation (PIC) Division of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Being the first service officer in the MoD secretariat, he handled issues ranging from defence policy and strategy, implementation of the Group of Ministers report on reform of national security system, defence cooperation with foreign countries, issues of multilateral forum as well as matters pertaining to institutions like the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). He has also represented India at various international forums including the UNOG for CCW conferences, UNGA, Shangri La Dialogue, ASEAN and UNEP, among others
After the tenure at MoD, he served on a yearlong fellowship at MP-IDSA in 2009, where he prepared a report on the benefits of joint exercises with the foreign countries. He was subsequently selected as Senior Defence Specialist in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), where he served from 2010 to 2017. He has been a member of several national level task forces including that on Defence Modernisation and Indigenisation headed by Shri Ravindra Gupta and the Task Force on Defence Diplomacy, which brought about significant changes in policy. He was also a member of the NSCS-nominated Task Force on Environmental Security.
Currently, Col. Pillay is pursuing research on violent extremism at MP-IDSA as well as a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) project on Action Plan to Counter Radicalisation of Indian Youth. He was nominated as a member of the Advisory Committee for Commemoration of the First War with Pakistan (October 1947-December 1948) by the National Archives of India. He subsequently produced a well-researched exhibition on the accession of Jammu and Kashmir. In December 2018, he was nominated as Brand Ambassador to the Disabled in the Army, having been wounded in action and showing remarkable grit and recovery, by the COAS in a ceremony held at the Northern Command along with living Param Vir Chakra awardees.
In December 2018, he was also deputed as a Military Advisor with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for After Action Review for the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. He was the first Indian armed forces officer selected as an Armed Forces Delegate with the ICRC. He re-joined MP-IDSA in May 2019.
Col. Pillay holds a Ph.D. from the Panjab University and his thesis deals with the debate between human and national security. Besides university courses, he has attended several military training programmes in India and abroad on diverse subjects relating to conflict resolution, human rights, security sector reform, humanitarian civil-military coordination, strategic negotiations, rehabilitation and relief, disaster risk management and environmental law. Some of the courses attended are: New Issues in Security course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (2007), Switzerland; the UNOCHA course on Civil Military Cooperation at Bangkok (2014); and International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance, Barcelona, Spain (2014).
He has been invited to present papers at international conferences, notably at the Martens Reading at St. Petersburg, Russia in May 2019 and at the ICRC South Asia in July 2017. He regularly conducts international humanitarian law (IHL) training for the UN missions at courses conducted by the Centre for UN Peacekeeping in New Delhi. He also delivers lectures at universities and colleges including at the UGC-HRD courses. He is a regular strategic affairs commentator on Indian radio and television as well as a motivational speaker, including at TED. He was a recipient of the CNN–IBN Special Achievement Award in 2012.
- D.P.K. Pillay’s Review of Arjun Subramaniam’s Book ‘Full Spectrum: India’s Wars 1972-2020’ Published in The Economic Times’
- D.P.K. Pillay Speaks on Food Security in Podcast Series by Taylor & Francis Group
- D.P.K. Pillay’s Review of Uttam Sinha’s Book ‘Indus Basin Uninterrupted’ Published in The Economic Times
Agnipath: Addressing the Manpower Challenges of the Indian Armed Forces
The Agnipath scheme provides an opportunity for the armed forces to leap into the next generation of warfare with a manpower that can embrace technological challenges.
Clear Entry, Exit Norms, Hiked Retention Ratio
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col DPK Pillay’s piece ‘Clear entry, exit norms, hiked retention ratio: How can Agnipath be made more attractive?’ has been published in the Times of India, on 19 June 2022.
Arrival of Portuguese in India and its Role in Shaping Modern India
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col DPK Pillay’s article ‘Arrival of Portuguese in India and its Role in Shaping Modern India’ has been published in Daxiyanguo No. 27, Portuguese Journal of Asian Studies, Instituto do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal.
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First Engineer to be Army Chief
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col DPK Pillay’s article ‘First Engineer to be Army Chief’ has been published in Blitz India, on 09 May 2022.
General Manoj Pande took over as 29th Chief of the Indian Army on May 1, 2022. His appointment made some unusual news because he is the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to don the mantle, say Col Pillay.
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The Peace Dividend
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col DPK Pillay’s article ‘The Peace Dividend’ has been published in the Open magazine on 29 April 2022.
Political agreements and a firm hand in dealing with insurgencies have normalised the Northeast, making it easier for India to face Chinese threats across an unsettled border, says Col Pillay.
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Why does former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have ‘half his heart’ in India?
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col DPK Pillay’s article ‘Why does former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have ‘half his heart’ in India?’ has been published in Blitz India on 01 April 2022.
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Can we Become Wiser from the Havoc of COVID-19?
Abstract: COVID-19 sent the whole world and economy into a tailspin. This article first explores the brief history of use of biological weapons. Furthermore, it encapsulates the debates surrounding the biological weapon convention in general and COVID-19 in particular. Finally, the article highlights India’s ability to fight back a pandemic and her resilience that was tested in the initial phase of COVID-19 and during the second wave.
What India can learn and unlearn from America's rise to power
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col D.P.K. Pillay’s article ‘What India can learn and unlearn from America's rise to power’ has been published in ‘The Economic Times’ on 12 March 2022.
It is time India showed the mirror to the West, and the United States in particular — about both its lack of sensitivity on Indian concerns and the double standards America has applied towards India, says Col Pillay.
Beginning of the End : Emergence of a New World Order
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col D.P.K. Pillay’s article ‘Beginning of the End: Emergence of a New World Order’ has been published in Chanakya Forum on 04 March 2022.
The outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be that the stability which the world has seen for the better part of last century and the first two decades of this, will not be seen again in the coming decades. The world will no longer be the same. It is the beginning of the end for the powers that dominated for over a century, says Col Pillay.
The many sieges of Kyiv and twists and turns of history
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col D.P.K. Pillay’s article ‘The many sieges of Kyiv and twists and turns of history’, has been published in India Today on 03 March 2022.
As Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, we look at the many sieges of Kyiv and twists and turns of history. What course human history takes will be very interesting to see at the end of this war, if we all survive, says Col Pillay.