Research Fellow

Dr Sebastian Raj Pender is a Research Fellow at CHACR, working on the shifting dynamics of the Indo-Pacific Region. He is particularly interested in India’s emerging role in the region, and the geopolitical implications of India’s evolving maritime security strategy.

Before joining CHACR, Sebastian held research appointments at Balliol College, University of Oxford; the School of Advanced Studies, University of London; and the International Centre of Advanced Studies in New Delhi. He was awarded a PhD in Modern Indian History from the University of Cambridge and holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Aberystwyth University in Contemporary South Asian Studies and International Relations respectively. His first book, The 1857 Indian Uprising and the Politics of Commemoration, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022, and he is currently completing a second monograph assessing the causes, nature, and effects of the so-called Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946.