Sumitha Narayanan Kutty is an Adjunct Research Associate with the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on India’s foreign and security policies across the Indo-Pacific region with special interest in the Middle East. She has extensive field-work experience including in Iran, Israel, UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the strategic island states of Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. Sumitha has contributed to journals such as The Washington Quarterly, Asia Policy and the media including BloombergTV, CNBC, Channel News Asia, Al Jazeera, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, HT Mint, Business Standard, The National Interest, The Diplomat, Lawfare, The Wire, LobeLog and Al-Monitor. She is co-editor (with Rajesh Basrur) of India and Japan: Assessing the Strategic Partnership (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Sumitha previously worked at the Atlantic Council of the United States, Albright Stonebridge Group and the World Resources Institute in Washington DC and was a research scholar at The Takshashila Institution, India. She was a broadcast journalist in India with a leading English news channel where she assisted in the coverage of the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, Indian parliamentary and state elections, and tracked key political and security developments across South Asia. She holds multiple degrees in journalism from India and a master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

• Indian Foreign Policy
• India-Iran Relations
• India-Middle East Relations
• Western Indian Ocean Region

• Member, International Studies Association
• Member, Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE)
• APYO “Young Leader” at the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue (Asia Security Summit) 2016
• Scholar, Takshashila Institution (India), 2014-2015
• Helms Fellow for Global Outreach, World Resources Institute, 2013

Commentaries

• CO16014 | Iran’s Infrastructure Projects: India, China Competing?

  22 January, 2016

• CO15149 | Iran Nuclear Deal: Expect Limited US-Iran Détente

  07 July, 2015

• CO15132 | ‘Make in India’ and Defence: Modi’s outreach to South Korea

  05 June, 2015

Journal Articles

• “Dealing with Differences: The Iran Factor in India-US Relations” in Asia Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2019, pp. 95-118
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty. "Iran's Continuing Interests in Afghanistan," The Washington Quarterly, 37:2 (2014): 139-156.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty. “Iran and Afghanistan: The Urgent Need for Inclusive Regional Diplomacy,” Asia Policy, 17 (2014): 40-46.

Edited Books / Special Issues

• India and Japan: Assessing the Strategic Partnership (with Rajesh Basrur), Eds. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Connectivity and Chabahar: The Eurasian Future of India’s Iran Policy” in Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Insights: Iran’s Bilateral Relations in the New Eurasian Context. Singapore: MEI-NUS and Bourse&Bazaar, 2020, pp. 50-60
• “India-China Rivalry and the Strategic Importance of the Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles” in Rajesh Basrur, Anit Mukherjee and TV Paul, India-China Maritime Competition: The Security Dilemma at Sea (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History). Abingdon & New York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 2019, pp. 111-136
• Sumitha N. Kutty, “The Middle East: Not (Yet) a Post-Westphalian Order” in Ritika Passi (ed.), 2016: Primer (New Delhi: ORF), pp. 17-20.

Op-Eds

• “The Quad: What It Is – And What It Is Not” (with Rajesh Basrur), The Diplomat, 24 March 2021
• “India-China crisis: Why the Gulf is silent”, ORF (Raisina Debates), 10 August 2020
• “US-Iran: New Delhi must weigh its options carefully”, Hindustan Times, 8 January 2020
• “India’s Iran Port Plans Languish Despite US Waiver”, Bourse & Bazaar, 29 August 2019
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, "Rouhani’s visit a reality check for Iran-India relations," Al-Monitor, March 06, 2018.
• “A Time of Strategic Partnerships” (with Rajesh Basrur), The Hindu, 20 September 2017
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, "Commentary: Modi and Trump go away with easy wins, leave much work to be done," Channel News Asia, June 29, 2017.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, "Despite Trump’s Threats to Iran, India Must Push Ahead on Chabahar," The Wire, February 16, 2017.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, "ISIS's Plan to Terrorize India," The National Interest, 20 July 2016
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty. “India Cements Role in Iran with Chabahar Deal,” Lobe Log, 23 May 2016.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty. “Preempt, Push, and Protect: India’s Strategy after the Iran Deal,” The Diplomat, 29 July 2015.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, "Mapping India’s response to Iran’s changing global status and regional influence," Takshashila Policy Brief, 2015-S02. (2015) www.takshashila.org.in.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty. “Tehran Talks Tough with India,” Lobe Log, 24 June 2015.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “Iran Nuclear Framework: What’s the Big Deal?”, Logos, 4 April 2015.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “India and Iran: time to act on transit,” Mint, 3 March 2015.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty and Pranay Kotasthane, "Risks to India's national security from tensions along the Iran-Pakistan border," Takshashila Strategic Assessment, 01 -13 November 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “Why we can’t take Afghanistan for granted,” Business Standard, 12 October 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “When Iran sanctions bite,” Pragati, 29 September 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “Why Iran Won’t Leave Afghanistan,” Lawfare, 31 August 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “What’s driving India’s Iran crude oil rush?”, The News Minute, 22 August 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “Iran Plays a Waiting Game in Afghanistan,” Lobe Log (IPS News), 19 July 2014.
• Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, “Iran-India ties poised for take-off,” Al-Monitor, 22 April 2014.