STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday appointed noted academic Amitabh Mattoo as Advisor to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti with the status of a cabinet minister.
Mattoo also served as Advisor to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
A Kashmiri Pandit, his parents did not leave the Kashmir Valley after militancy erupted in 1989-90 and his mother continued to teach in a local college until her retirement.
During his last tenure as Advisor to the Chief Minister, Mattoo did not draw any salary from the government and took a token one rupee as monthly remuneration.
Born in Srinagar, Mattoo has been the Chief Executive Officer and inaugural Director of the Australia India Institute and Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
He is widely regarded as an inspiring and innovative builder of institutions and the foremost Indian intellectual seeking to build peace in the South Asian region.
He is on leave from New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University where he serves as a Professor of Disarmament Studies at the School of International Studies.
Mattoo has been a Member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India.
He is also President of the Indian Association of International Studies.
From November 2002 until early December 2008, he was the youngest ever Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu University, and the second youngest Vice Chancellor in the history of modern India.
Mattoo serves on the Governing Council of the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), the Executive Committee and Governing Council of Pugwash, the Nobel Prize-winning NGO, and is a member of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well Being.
Mattoo is a member of the Academic Council of Vishwabharti University as well as the Executive Council of the Central University of Karnataka.
He was appointed a member of India’s National Security Council’s Advisory Board by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He has been a Director of the India-Afghanistan Foundation (established by the governments of India and Afghanistan) and was a member of the task force constituted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Global Strategic Developments.
The Task Force examined global trends in strategic affairs and their implications for India.
Despite reports of Mattoo’s proximity to various political parties, his expertise and advice has been sought on matters of national security and foreign policy across parties and governments.
Mattoo had his early education in Burn Hall School, Srinagar and the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
He earned a D Phil in International Relations from the Oxford University (United Kingdom), writing a history of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Mattoo qualified for the Indian Police Service in 1987 through the combined civil service exam but preferred a career in academics.
Recognising his contribution to education and public life, he was honoured with highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2008. Mattoo was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard Award (2008) and was recognised as a National Statesman for his work in the field of education along with Anand Mahindra who was awarded for his leadership in business.
