Synergy Editorial Board

A distinguished panel ensuring academic integrity, quality research, and impactful publications for India’s defence and strategic studies.

Editor

Maj Gen Ashok Kumar, VSM, PhD (Retd) Director General, CENJOWS

A distinguished Kargil War veteran and an accomplished author with over 300 published articles across more than 30 platforms.
He has commanded an Infantry formation in Arunachal Pradesh, overseeing the very terrain where pivotal battles of the 1962 war took place. A former MD of ECHS (2017-2019) and later a Principal Staff Officer at HQ Eastern Command, he brings decades of strategic and operational experience. He has authored two notable books, China Betrays Again and Indian Churnings on the Global Stage, with several more forthcoming. A bilingual writer and an inspiring motivational speaker, he contributes extensively in both Hindi and English.
Dr Ulupi Borah
Deputy Editor
Dr Ulupi Borah is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies. She holds expertise on the Indo-Pacific, focusing on Japan’s security policies, maritime security, and the ecosystem of critical and emerging technologies, especially semiconductors. She earned her PhD from the Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on “Japan and the South China Sea Dispute:2002–2016”, with part of her research conducted at Niigata University, Japan.

Previously an Assistant Professor at Rashtriya Raksha University, Ministry of Home Affairs, she taught Defence and Strategic Studies and curated programmes on UN peacekeeping and maritime security. An alumna of prestigious international scholarships, she was awarded the US Mission to the UN Fellowship (2023) to attend the New Issues in Security Course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland, and was the first Indian to receive the JASSO scholarship from the Government of Japan. Dr Borah was also a delegate at the India-Japan Strategic Dialogue 2025 in Tokyo. She has authored widely, including a monograph on the Russia-Ukraine War and the forthcoming book India-Japan Collaboration for a Resilient Indo-Pacific. She also serves as Deputy Editor of Synergy, the peer-reviewed journal of CENJOWS. She has delivered talks at international forums such as the Diplomatic Academy of Ecuador, NIICE Nepal and Niigata University

EDITORIAL BOARD

Brig, K Ranjeev Singh,YSM
Deputy Director General

Brig, K Ranjeev Singh,YSM, is an alumnus of Canning College, Lucknow University and IMA, Dehradun. The officer was commissioned into 10th Bn the DOGRA Regt in Dec 1991. The officer has served with his Bn in most operational theatres including Andaman & Nicobar Command and Counter Insurgency Operation Areas in North East and Jammu & Kashmir. He has successfully commanded his Battalion in Amritsar and Manipur (Op HIFAZAT). In his 35 years long Military career the officer has tenanted various staff and instructional assignments including, GSO-3(Int) of an Independent Infantry Brigade Group along Line of Control (LC) in a High Altitude Area (HAA) during Operation VIJAY, GSO-1 of an Infantry Brigade on LC (Operation RAKSHAK) in HAA, Instructor in Young Officer Wing at Infantry School Mhow, Director at IHQ of MoD (Army) and Col GS in a Command Headquarters. He successfully raised and commanded an Infantry Brigade as part of a Mountain Division which mobilised and participated in Operation SNOW LEOPARD in Eastern Ladakh wherein the newly raised formation was awarded with 27 decorations with all three Infantry Battalions being awarded with unit citations. The officer was posted as Deputy GOC of Counter Insurgency Force HQ before getting posted as Commandant DOGRA Regimental Centre from where he superannuated. Having attended all mandatory courses, the officer was awarded with Chief of Army Staff Commendation twice and was conferred with Yudh Seva Medal on the occasion of 72nd Republic Day. Academically inclined, the officer also holds a post graduate diploma in Financial Management from NIFM, Faridabad. The officer is currently working with CENJOWS as Deputy Director General.

Col KJ Singh
Secretary
Col, KJ Singh is an experienced Senior Administrator with a distinguished career in government administration and defence services, bringing expertise in operations management, disaster management, and homeland security. An alumnus of Panjab University, he was commissioned into the Armoured Corps and played a pivotal role during Operation Vijay (Kargil War) in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley. He further served as a staff officer in an Armoured Brigade during Operation Parakram and later contributed to military education as faculty at the College of Military Engineering (CME), Pune, where he specialized in Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare instruction. Currently, he serves as Colonel Coordinator at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), where he focuses on fostering strategic thought and advancing joint operational planning.
Gp Capt Ashish Kumar Gupta (Retd)
Senior Fellow

As a Senior Fellow at CENJOWS, the research area of Gp Capt Ashish Gupta (Retd) incudes impact of niche technologies on Warfare and Warfighting.  An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and post graduate in Communication stream from IIT Delhi, his lucid articulation and incisive insights fructified in publishing of many seminal papers and authoring a book titled “Cyber Warfare: Conquest over Elusive enemy.” He avidly follows the developments taking place in niche technology realm.

Dr Ulupi Borah
Distinguished Fellow
Dr Ulupi Borah is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies. She holds expertise on the Indo-Pacific, focusing on Japan’s security policies, maritime security, and the ecosystem of critical and emerging technologies, especially semiconductors. She earned her PhD from the Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on “Japan and the South China Sea Dispute:2002–2016”, with part of her research conducted at Niigata University, Japan.

Previously an Assistant Professor at Rashtriya Raksha University, Ministry of Home Affairs, she taught Defence and Strategic Studies and curated programmes on UN peacekeeping and maritime security. An alumna of prestigious international scholarships, she was awarded the US Mission to the UN Fellowship (2023) to attend the New Issues in Security Course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland, and was the first Indian to receive the JASSO scholarship from the Government of Japan. Dr Borah was also a delegate at the India-Japan Strategic Dialogue 2025 in Tokyo. She has authored widely, including a monograph on the Russia-Ukraine War and the forthcoming book India-Japan Collaboration for a Resilient Indo-Pacific. She also serves as Deputy Editor of Synergy, the peer-reviewed journal of CENJOWS. She has delivered talks at international forums such as the Diplomatic Academy of Ecuador, NIICE Nepal and Niigata University

Dr Monojit Das
Senior Fellow
Dr Monojit Das, Senior Fellow CENJOWS, holds PhD in Internet Governance. Besides academics he has diverse experience in promoting India’s soft power diplomacy and fostering bilateral partnership with friendly nations.
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