Rahul PAWA
International Law | AI-Enabled Warfare | Military Technology | Security
My work sits at the intersection of international law, military technology, and security landscape, with a sustained focus on the legal regulation of AI-enabled warfare. I examine autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons systems, evolving targeting and command architectures, and the legal and policy challenges that emerge when battlefield decision-making is increasingly mediated by software, sensor fusion, machine learning, and distributed operational chains.
I studied law at the University of Edinburgh and pursued further studies at Maastricht University. Over 12 years of strategic research and practitioner experience in defence and security technologies have taken me across the United Nations system, India’s Parliament, government-mandated national commissions, and frontier technology companies working at the intersection of AI and intelligent systems.
Born and raised in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi. I have lived, studied, and worked across South Asia, West Asia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. I was nominated as UN Youth Ambassador for India and have received global civilian honours including the Karamveer Chakra and the Asia Youth Leaders Award.
I currently serve as Director for Research at CIHS, a New Delhi-based think tank. I also curate TEDxSrinagar.
The broader vision informing my work is outlined on https://rahulpawa.com/vision/