About
He serves as Director of Research at the Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS), a New Delhi-based think tank, where he leads a research programme spanning AI-enabled autonomous weapon systems, counter-terrorism, frontier technology governance and global security. His research has been cited in the Lead Inspector General’s quarterly report to the United States Congress on Operation Enduring Sentinel, and has informed legal and policy positions at the United Nations, European Union and NATO levels. He has briefed and engaged senior officials including the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Members of the European Parliament, and ambassadors and senior diplomats across four continents.
His path has run through some of the highest institutions of Indian and international governance. At the Rajya Sabha, Parliament of India, he contributed policy and legislative research that supported parliamentary dialogue and strengthened evidence-based decision-making in India’s upper house. With the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, he advised on child-protection policy and legislative amendments in Jammu and Kashmir, and trained law enforcement on online child safety, anti-grooming interventions and child trafficking. At the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, he worked on criminal justice responses to ISIL, researched foreign terrorist fighters and returnees across Asia and Europe, and supported capacity-building for judiciaries and law enforcement authorities of Member States in coordination with Interpol, Europol and the OSCE.
His engagement with the United Nations began early and has spanned more than a decade. In Amman, working alongside the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, he contributed to the Amman Declaration on Youth, Peace and Security, the process that informed the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 in 2015. He served as Global Youth Advocate for the Post-2015 Agenda under the UN Millennium Campaign, and as UN Women Gender Equality Ambassador for the HeForShe campaign in India. In 2009, he was nominated as UN Youth Ambassador for India for grassroots work advancing youth, peace and security across Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Jharkhand, work that began with the United Youth of India Foundation, a youth-led non-profit he founded.
He read law at the University of Edinburgh and Maastricht University, specialising in international criminal law, the law of armed conflict, forensics and criminology. His graduate research examined autonomous weapons systems under international law, legal responses to returning foreign terrorist fighters, and the role of online echo chambers in radicalisation. Those questions have never left him. They anchor everything he works on today: how emerging technologies reshape conflict, terrorism and the institutions built to govern both.
He is a recipient of the Karamveer Chakra National Medallion, conferred by the International Confederation of NGOs in association with the United Nations, and the Asia Youth Leaders Award from the Commonwealth Youth Programme and the British Council. He is a member of the British Society of Criminology, a life member of the South Asian Society of Criminology and Victimology, a founding member of the AI and Quantum Futures Alliance and the Emerging Technology Professionals Association, and a member of the Scottish Young Lawyers Association. Since 2011 he has organised and curated TEDxSrinagar, one of the earliest global-conference platforms in Jammu and Kashmir. His analysis appears in the Jerusalem Post, South Asian Herald, The Times of India, Sri Lanka Guardian, Australia Today, Firstpost, CNN-News18 and MSN India.
Born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, he has lived, studied and worked across South Asia, West Asia, the United Kingdom and Europe, and everything he does is still shaped by where he began.
The broader vision informing my work is outlined on https://rahulpawa.com/vision/
Honours, Appointments & Affiliations
Research Fellow, Rajya Sabha (2023-Present): Engaged in policy and legislative research supporting parliamentary dialogue, contributing analysis that strengthens public policy, evidence-based debate, and institutional decision-making within India’s Parliament.
Expert, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) (2019–2023): Advised on child-protection policy and legislative amendments in Jammu & Kashmir, and led capacity-building programmes for law enforcement on online safety of children, social media risks, and anti-grooming interventions, alongside training law enforcement officials on child trafficking.
Contributor, Amman Declaration on Youth, Peace & Security (2015): Contributed to the formulation of the Amman Declaration, working alongside the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, a process that informed momentum toward the unanimous adoption of UNSC Resolution 2250 (2015).
Global Youth Advocate, Post-2015 Agenda (2014-2015): Supported youth mobilisation for the MDGs-to-SDGs transition, advancing UN Millennium Campaign outreach aligned with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s leadership, including global MyWorld2030 and WorldWeWant2030 campaigns through youth networks, digital engagement and campaign strategy development and implementation
UN Women Gender Equality Ambassador (2014-2015): Served as an ambassador and advocate for UN Women’s HeForShe in India, amplifying gender equality, engaging communities and institutions, and contributing to sustained public awareness for women’s rights.
Award of Appreciation, Asia Youth Leaders Summit (2012): Recognised by the Commonwealth Youth Programme and the British Council for youth leadership and contributions to civic engagement and public-impact initiatives.
Organiser & Curator, TEDxSrinagar (2011-Present): Pioneered one of the earliest global-conference platforms in Jammu & Kashmir by bringing the TEDx format to Srinagar, curating ideas, convening diverse voices, and sustaining a long-running stage for public dialogue and inspiration.
UNV Karamveer Chakra National Medallion (2011): Conferred the Karamveer Chakra National Medallion, the prestigious global recognition conferred by the International Confederation of NGOs in association with the United Nations, for public-impact leadership and service.
Youth Ambassador, Mission Eye International (2010-2011): Honoured for community-based advocacy promoting women’s empowerment and gender equity, working closely with local stakeholders in Chand Ki Badi Village, Muzaffarnagar (Bihar) to strengthen awareness, participation and dignity-driven development.
United Nations Youth Ambassador Nominee (2009): Nominated to represent India at the UN Headquarters, New York, in recognition of sustained grassroots work advancing youth, peace, and security outcomes across Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
Founder, United Youth of India Foundation (2008-2014): Founded and led a youth-led non-profit focused on empowering young Indians through practical leadership, dialogue, and community action, driving early, nationally visible initiatives at the intersection of peace-building, gender, and security.
Memberships
Member, British Society of Criminology (BSC) (2026-Present): Awarded membership, reflecting active engagement with criminological scholarship and participation in one of the foremost professional networks advancing criminology research and policy in the United Kingdom and internationally.
Founding Member, Emerging Technology Professionals Association (ETPA) (2025-Present): Helped establish a deep-tech professional body advancing ethics and best practice across AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and other frontier technologies.
Life Member, South Asian Society of Criminology & Victimology (SASCV) (2025): Awarded life membership, reflecting sustained engagement with criminology and victimology scholarship and regional professional networks.
Founding Member, AI & Quantum Futures Alliance (AIQFA) (2024-Present): Engaged in public consultations, policy roundtables, and scholarly panels in Delhi, collaborating with academics, policymakers, and industry leaders to bridge ethical inquiry with legal analysis on AI-enabled machines.
Member, Scottish Young Lawyers Association (SYLA) (2016-Present): Active member of Scotland’s early-career legal network, engaging with professional development forums, legal-community initiatives, and practitioner-led events.
