Dr. Shalini Chawla is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), New Delhi. She joined CAPS in 2006 and the focus of her studies is Pakistan and Afghanistan. Currently, she heads the Neighbourhood Studies Programme at CAPS. She received a Commendation and Badge by the Chief of Air Staff in October 2020 for displaying great dedication and professional ability, resulting in praiseworthy contribution to the service. She is a Visiting Faculty at the Naval War College, Goa. She is a Faculty (PhD Supervisor) at the National Defence College, New Delhi. She is an alumni of the Near East South Asia Centre based at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

She is part of the Pakistan Study Group coordinated by the Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi (2018 February- present). She has published a wide range of research articles/chapters in national and international journals and books relating to defence and security issues. She lectures regularly at various universities, think tanks (within India and abroad) and leading institutions of the Indian Armed Forces and Foreign Services.
She is part of Track 1.5 talks and has been actively engaged in bilateral talks between India-UK, India-Russia, India-Afghanistan and India-Pakistan.

She has authored/edited seven books titled - Pakistan’s Military and Its Strategy (2009), Nuclear Pakistan (2012), (ed.) India’s Sentinel (2014), (ed.) Strategic Advantage of Air Power (2019), (ed.) The 1971 Indo-Pak Air War: Reflections and Projections (2021), (ed.) India’s Neighbourhood: Challenges and Opportunities (2023) and (ed.) Pakistan’s Security dynamics and Nuclear Weapons (2023)