A career diplomat and a scholar of international relations, Venu Rajamony is Press Secretary to the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. Mr Rajamony previously headed the Multilateral Institutions Division of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He served as Consul General of India in Dubai from 2007 to 2010, during which time he authored “India and the UAE: In Celebration of a Legendary Friendship” an insightful coffee-table book about the age-old and prosperous India-UAE alliance. Venu Rajamony holds a degree in Law from the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, and a Masters degree in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. After a two year stint as staff correspondent of the Indian Express, Venu Rajamony joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 as the topper of his batch. He has since served in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Beijing, Geneva and Washington, D.C., as well as in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. He was Asia Foundation Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in DC during 2001–2002. A fluent speaker of Chinese, Rajamony has authored a much acclaimed monograph titled The India-China-US Triangle: A Soft Balance of Power in the Making.