Ex WTO DDG Harsha Vardhana Singh joins Brookings India as Executive Director

Harsha Vardhana Singh, former Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization, has joined the Brookings Institution India Center as its Executive Director. Dr. Singh will also serve as a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings.

Dr. Singh is a globally renowned expert in international trade who served as the WTO DDG from October 2005 to September 2013.

“We are delighted to have Harsha serve as Executive Director of Brookings India,” Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said. “Dr. Singh will be an invaluable addition to Brookings India leadership with his wealth of expertise and experience. His depth of knowledge on economic and trade issues will add another dimension to Brookings India’s research prowess.”

Prior to the WTO, Dr. Singh was Secretary and Principal Advisor at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). During this period, he was also a member of several high-level government policy committees, and has served as Chair of WTO dispute settlement panels. He has also been a member of various trade advisory committees of the Government of India and has worked on the Foreign Trade Policy of India.

Harsha Vardhana Singh completed his Masters in Economics from Delhi in 1979 and studied at the University of Oxford (U.K.) as a Rhodes Scholar from India to obtain his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics. He has been an Honorary Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and a member of the visiting faculty at the TERI School of Advanced Studies for their Masters programme in Regulatory Studies. He has authored a number of papers on trade policy and regulatory issues.

Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Distinguished Fellow at Brookings India, said, “We look forward to gaining from Harsha’s wisdom, his experience in research and administration and, most of all, his very thoughtful approach to the issues of the day.”

“Harsha brings the experience and knowledge necessary to understand the economic implications of India’s rise. He is uniquely qualified to assume a leadership role at Brookings India,” said Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution, based out of Washington, D.C.

The Brookings Institution India Center was established in 2013 in New Delhi, and is affiliated to the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, the world’s oldest independent think-tank. Brookings India serves as a platform for cutting-edge, policy-relevant research and analysis on the opportunities and challenges facing India and the world.