Arvind Gupta was the deputy national security advisor and headed the National Security Council Secretariat in the Government of India from 2014-17. During 2012-14, he was director general of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He is a former diplomat. He is also an honorary professor in the Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
He is currently the director of Vivekananda International Foundation, a Delhi-based independent, non-partisan think tank focusing on research on foreign policy, defence and security-related issues from an Indian perspective.
His interests are India's foreign policy, security, history, culture and civilization.