Amb. Smita Purushottam

Ambassador Smita Purushottam is the founder of the non-profit Do Tank “SITARA”, a Science, Indigenous Technology and Advanced Research Accelerator, to bring increased vigour to the indigenisation of high-tech production and building a Science Nation in India. She had launched the High-Tech Defence Innovation Forum in 2011. She served as Ambassador to Venezuela (Jan 2012 – Jun 2015), Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Holy See (Aug 2015-Oct 2017). She also served in India’s missions abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India in Berlin, Minister (Political) at the High Commission of India, London, Counsellor for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Beijing the Embassy in Brussels, and Language-trainee and Information Second Secretary at the Embassy of India, Moscow. Her most formative experience was in China, as she had the opportunity to study Chinese economic reforms first-hand, which she relayed back to India. She spent a year as Fellow at Harvard University in 2000-2001 where she prepared a paper “Can India Overtake China?” (2001), in which she compared the two economies and their respective reform experiences; analysed the ongoing reforms in the Indian economy focusing on the telecom sector, aviation, privatization attempts and IT, and recommended building a strong manufacturing sector like China had. She served also as Joint Secretary at the Foreign Service Institute (MEA), New Delhi; Joint Secretary in the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters in MOD; Director/Under Secretary (East Europe/Russia/Soviet Union) and SAARC, and Under Secretary (Bhutan) in MEA.