Professor Mahendra P. Lama

Prof Mahendra P Lama (b 1961), a noted development economist, had been a senior Professor in the School of International Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He superannuated from 34 long years of service in JNU in February 2026. 

He is presently Emeritus Chief Economic Adviser in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Sikkim and also Senior Adviser in the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD, Kathmandu), an 8 member countries inter-governmental agency. Besides serving as an Expert Consultant with the UN ESCAP, he was till recently Prime Minister of India’s nominee in the Eminent Persons Group set up by the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal. 

Prof Lama served as a member of the prestigious National Security Advisory Board of Government of India and as the Founding Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Sikkim. He was India’s representative in the Steering Committee of the coveted South Asian Forum set up by the Heads of the States and Governments in the 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu in 2010 and Independent Expert Group set up by the 10th SAARC leaders in Colombo in 1998. 

Central to his intellectual pursuits is development, cooperation and integration in South and South East Asia. Besides authoring and editing 25 books and 15 monographs, he has extensively worked on the issues of trade, investment and energy cooperation, borders and border lands, sustainable development, natural resource management, national security, migration, refugees and human security in South Asia with several eminent institutions in these countries. He has also worked on the issues of hills and mountains.