Dr. Constantino Xavier is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) in New Delhi, where he directs the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow in the Foreign Policy programme at the Brookings Institution and a Visiting Professor in the Department of International Relations at Ashoka University. His research focuses on India’s role as a regional power in South Asia, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean, particularly its relations with Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. Through CSEP’s Sambandh Initiative on Regional Connectivity, his work has informed governments, businesses, and policy stakeholders seeking to strengthen India’s geoeconomic integration with neighbouring countries and regions extending from the Gulf to Southeast Asia.
Dr. Xavier’s research examines how India balances national security interests with growing economic interdependence in a changing regional and global order. At CSEP, he leads projects on connectivity partnerships, climate cooperation, critical minerals security, and China’s expanding role in South Asia. He has published widely on foreign and security policy, regional institutions, state capacity, economic diplomacy, conflict resolution, democracy assistance, and soft power. He regularly teaches and supervises research at international universities and Indian diplomatic, administrative, and military institutions, including the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service and the National Defence College. His previous affiliations include the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Observer Research Foundation, Carnegie India, and the Brookings Institution. A Fulbright and Indian Council for Cultural Relations grant recipient, he is also an ICCR Distinguished Alumni Awardee. He holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, postgraduate degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a bachelor’s degree with studies at NOVA University Lisbon and Sciences Po Paris.
