Mahadevan Shankar
Honorary Adjunct Fellow
National Maritime FoundationAreas of Research
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International Trade and Development
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Indo Pacific Region
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Indian Ocean Region
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Current And Strategic Affairs – South Asia, Central and West Asia, ASEAN, East Asia and Oceania regions
Experience
- Mahadevan is Founder and CEO of Arzuh International Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia, a provider of strategic transaction advisory services.
- He is the National Convenor for Defence and Security Working Group in the Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC) to facilitate & develop Tangible Outcomes between organisations from both countries.
- He is Founder member of an informal think tank – The Current And Strategic Affairs Forum, India, comprising many senior Veterans, Academia and Industry experts.
- He is also served as National Advisor in the Australia India Business Council and Founding Committee member of the Papua New Guinea India Business Forum, actively engaged in promoting trade between Indo Pacific region countries.
- As a qualified Chartered Accountant from India and Australia, he has extensive experiences having been a Partner of Deloitte, the largest global accounting firm in their Australian, Russian and Central Asia practices. He has over 25 years of global experiences providing professional Transaction Advisory Services for small, medium and large projects across different jurisdictions with India – both inbound and outbound.
- He was delegate member of PM of Papua New Guinea (PNG) during his first Head of State visit at the invitation of the PM of India, to participate in the Second Forum of India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC-2) Summit hosted in Jaipur in August 2015. He is working towards the FIPIC-3 Summit to be hosted in the South Pacific countries. He has actively coordinated with the Chief Commissioner of PNG Customs for delivery of the grant of the maritime surveillance equipment and coast guard vessels as a grant announced by the PM of India during FIPIC-2 Summit.
- As a delegate and active participant in the G20 Summit held in Brisbane, Australia in November 2014 when the PM of India visited Australia after a gap of 27 years, he has continued to engage with think tanks in both countries towards forging increased engagements.
- He is currently promoting strategic partnerships between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), India with their Japanese and Australian counterparts.
- He has organised under CASA few Webinars on QUAD related matters with eminent panellists that include retired American Lt General, Japanese Admiral and Australia Think Tank Under Secretary of Defence.
- In 2016 and 2017, he has contributed in a small way, towards Project “Find AE1”. This project successfully located in November 2017 the lost underwater remains of first Australian submarine – AE1 – that was lost at sea for unknown reasons, over 100 years since WW1, outside the waters of Rabaul port, Papua New Guinea. The project was Chaired by RAN Rear Admiral Peter Briggs, AO CSC with many other Australian and global organisations involved.
- In June 2017, he has successfully assisted then DA to Australia and Oceania region, for liaising with the PNG Defence Force senior personnel for a visit aboard INS Sahyadri during its first port visit to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Education
- Fellow Chartered Accountant, ICAI, India
- Chartered Accountant, CA ANZ, Australia
- Certified Internal Auditor and Professional Member of Institute of Internal Auditors, Australia
Publications
- He has contributed significantly to many papers and Webinars hosted by The Current And Strategic Affairs Forum.
- He has contributed to the Australia Economic Strategy 2020 report authored by Mr Anil Wadhwa, IFS, former Ambassador and former Secretary (East) at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Amb Wadhwa’s report was commissioned by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on behalf of the Government of India towards the identification of key areas of trade development between Australia and India.
- He has actively engaged with many business delegations from Australia to India and vice versa towards the promotion of international trade and bilateral relations.