Ex Chairperson, Asia Centre Bangalore Vice President, Chennai Centre for China Studies; : After getting a B.A.(Hons.) degree in Economics from Madras University, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1959. Posted to Hong Kong to learn the Chinese language he got a diploma (with Honours) from Hong Kong University in 1962. His various postings have been in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi including as Joint Secretary in charge of Northern and East Asia Divisions; Commissioner of India to Hong Kong, Ambassador of India to Ethiopia, Deputy Chief of Mission in the rank of Ambassador in Moscow, Ambassador of India to China and Ambassador of India to France. He was also a Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the U.N. for three years. Amb. C.V. Ranganathan was the Convenor of the National Security Advisory Board in 2002 and 2003. An Emeritus Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, he has co-authored a book on India and China-The Way Ahead with Ambassador V.C. Khanna, edited a book on the 18^th Congress of the Communist Party of China along with Dr. Sanjeev Kumar under the auspices of the Indian Council of World Affairs and another titled, China and the Eurasian Region also with Dr. Sanjeev Kumar and with support from Indian Council for World Affairs.

Amb Ranganathan laid down office as Chairperson in February 2023.