Ravinder Singh is a career diplomat with India’s Ministry of External Affairs and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. His work focuses on Afghanistan, Iran, regional security, development cooperation, multilateral diplomacy, and regional connectivity.

Singh currently serves as under secretary and desk officer for Afghanistan in the Ministry of External Affairs. In this role, he oversees India’s humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, development cooperation, capacity-building initiatives, and political and economic engagement with Afghanistan. He has also represented India at regional and international platforms concerning Afghanistan, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Working Groups Meeting in Doha, Qatar, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Consultative Meeting on Afghanistan in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Previously, Singh handled the Iran portfolio at the Ministry of External Affairs, including work related to political and economic relations and regional connectivity projects. From 2019 to 2024, he served at the Indian embassy in Tehran, where his responsibilities included political reporting and analysis, economic and commercial diplomacy, consular affairs, and engagement on regional developments.

Singh’s broader professional and research interests include international security, conflict resolution, governance, critical minerals and strategic supply chains, emerging technologies, and their implications for diplomacy, economic security, and warfare.

Singh holds a bachelor of engineering with honors in civil engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. He speaks English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Persian.