Prof. Sridhar K Khatri is Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Formerly, he was, Executive Director, Institute of Foreign Affairs, Kathmandu, Nepal, and Professor, Department of Political Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. Prof. Khatri has degrees from City College of New York and School of International Affairs, Columbia University, New York, and was a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics in 1989-90. Some of his edited volumes include: Regional Security in South Asia (Kathmandu: Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, 1987); Political Parties and The Parliamentary Process in Nepal: A Study of the Transitional Phase (Kathmandu: POLSAN, 1992); Energy Policy: National and Regional Implications (Kathmandu: CASAC, 2002). Co-edited volumes include; The Second Parliamentary Elections: A Study of the Emerging Democratic Process in Nepal (Kathmandu: IIDS, 1993) and South Asia 2010: Challenges and Opportunities (New Delhi: Manohar, 2002).
Prof. Gert W. Kueck is the Resident Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, an independent non profit-making German association, to India since 1993. Being a student of developmental economics and political science, he achieved some knowledge in the field of oriental studies too. After he graduated with a PhD in economics, he stated an impressive academic career teaching international trade and economic relations with special reference to Afro-Asian and Latin American countries. Several times and for many years, he was able to enrich his academic experience by various practical activities, mainly as an advisor to big companies and in the framework of the United Nations system. He has participated actively in a great number of important conferences at the multinational level and has authored a number of books as well as contributed to scientific journals.