Keshini is a familiar face to many people around the globe as a respected BBC World TV news anchor and global communications and international media expert and a trusted interlocutor of many world leaders. She has a passion for foreign affairs and has been the first port of call for several governments, global businesses and CEOs on international affairs and communications issues including profile development, reputation and crisis management and preparing political and business leaders for engagement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, G8 and G20 discussions and UN sessions. She is an accomplished international conference and discussion moderator and discussant including for many industries, governments, UN agencies, the EU and Commonwealth. She has engaged directly with many Commonwealth leaders and Secretary Generals in a variety of fora.
The founder of Alexandrite Global Communications and Globalnewsmakers, Keshini specialises in providing incisive analysis, frank and strategic advice to commercial and political decision-makers, drawing on her first-hand knowledge of the global arena, decision-makers and international media engagement and conducting professionally filmed leaders interviews. Her objective, challenging counsel has been provided to a range of high profile clients including multinational CEOs, including of a bank in the City of London during the banking crisis, De Beers, the diamond industry, the travel sector including airlines, and the oil and gas sector.
She has an extensive network of top diplomatic, political, media and commercial contacts worldwide, including many business leaders, parliamentarians and statesmen, and consequently has many insights into a number of regions including the Middle East, Asia Pacific, former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as well as many Commonwealth countries. Keshini advises some of London’s top Ambassadors from G7 and G20 nations. She is an appointed adviser to the Foreign Ministry of Japan on a major international public diplomacy and global communications initiative. She has provided specialist media engagement and international affairs advice to a number of countries’ senior military officers, including various defence chiefs, on a range of communications issues. As the Director of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering she has increased substantially the international profile and global audience reach from 100 million people to 2.4 billion people worldwide.
As a global communications adviser to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, straddling governments of 40 countries in the Asia Pacific region, she has helped many companies and countries cope better with crises and fast changing events internationally.
Keshini has 17 years’ experience of covering foreign affairs for the BBC, as a broadcaster and senior editor. In addition to her role as a prominent international TV news anchor on BBC World, she was Senior Editorial Adviser on international affairs to the Directorate and the BBC Board of Governors, also providing advice across the BBC and to the MPs and Peers in Westminster and international institutions such as EU and UN. She was also the BBC’s Russian Editor-in -Chief. She is experienced at dealing with security issues in the international context, has covered the major conflicts including Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and focused in detail issues such as Mediterranean migration, Islamic State, piracy and humanitarian issues including the response to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and issues stemming from terrorism after 9/11, the Bali bombings, and 7/7 and Paris attacks.
Extracurricular activities range from being patron of the Travel Club in London and the chair of the panel of judges for the Commonwealth Vision Awards, the annual film awards for the Commonwealth and an aficionado of classic movies. She is proud to be a member of the Editorial Board for the Round Table, as the UK’s oldest foreign affairs journal and discussion group. Keshini was a Scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
