Ajai Shukla, a former army colonel, writes for the news media on defence, regional security and the defence economy. Earlier he was a primetime television news anchor and war correspondent, and has reported the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and India’s multiple insurgencies.
Ajai is currently working on a book on China’s intrusions into India; and another on Arunachal Pradesh’s assimilation into India’s political mainstream. He has written chapters for three anthologies: The fall of the Taliban in 2001, India’s defence economy (under print) and on war reporting by the media.
Ajai spent over two decades as a combat soldier in the Indian army, retiring after commanding a highly decorated tank regiment. He has spent a year as a UN peacekeeper in Mozambique. He is a graduate of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla, the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London.
