Navtej Sarna is the author of the novels The Exile and We Weren’t Lovers Like That and the short story collection Winter Evenings. His non-fiction works include The Book of Nanak, Second Thoughts and Indians at Herod’s Gate as well as two translations, Zafarnama and Savage Harvest. He has contributed articles and reviews for long in the Times Literary Supplement, Financial Times, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express and other journals. His short stories have appeared in London Magazine and over the BBC.

He served as an Indian diplomat for nearly four decades in places as diverse as Moscow and Warsaw, Thimphu and Tehran. He held several critical appointments including as India's Foreign Office Spokesman, Ambassador to Israel, High Commissioner to the UK and Secretary to the Government of India. He retired from diplomatic service in 2018 as India’s Ambassador to the United States.

Sarna is now a full-time writer, dividing his time between New Delhi and Mashobra in the Shimla Hills. Besides his literary work, he writes on foreign policy including in his monthly column in The Week magazine. An independent member of the National Broadcasting Standards Authority, he also advises the upcoming Kautilya School of Public Policy and sits on the Governing Council of the Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University.