Talmiz Ahmad has served as Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia twice (2000-03; 2010-11); Oman (2003-04), and the UAE (2007-10). He was also an Additional Secretary for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 2004-06, and Director-General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi, from 2006-07. In July 2011, the Saudi Government conferred on him the King Abdul Aziz Medal First Class for his contribution to the promotion of Indo-Saudi relations.
After retirement from foreign service in 2011, he became President, Business Development, for an Indo-German joint venture, and headed their Dubai office for four years. He is now a full-time academic and holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.
After obtaining his Master’s degree in History from the University of Pune, India, Talmiz Ahmad joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. Early in his career, he was posted in Kuwait, Iraq, and Yemen, and later, between 1987-90, he was Consul General in Jeddah. Ahmad has also held positions in the Indian missions in New York, London, and Pretoria. He was head of the Gulf and Hajj in 1998-2000.
Ahmad has published three books – Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates (2005), Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms (2010), and The Islamist Challenge in West Asia: Doctrinal and Political Competitions after the Arab Spring (2013). He writes regularly in the Indian and West Asian media and lectures on political Islam, the politics of West Asia, Eurasia and the Indian Ocean, and energy security issues.
