Nikesh Arora, President, EMEA Operations & Senior Vice President, Google, has joined Bharti Airtel as an independent director on its Board of Directors.

Nikesh Arora is President, EMEA Operations & Senior Vice President, Google. He is responsible for Google''s business across 28 offices in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets with a team of over 2500 people.

Before joining Google, Nikesh was Chief Marketing Officer and member of the Management Board of T-Mobile. Prior to that he worked at Deutsche Telekom, where he founded T-Motion PLC, a mobile multimedia subsidiary of T-Mobile International.  Prior to his tenure in T-mobile, Nikesh was part of the asset management team at Putnam Investments focusing on tech and telecom on a global basis. He has also held finance and technology management positions at Fidelity Investments.

In  July  2007,  Nikesh  was  appointed  to  the  board  of Aviva PLC as an independent  Non-Executive  Director. He is also a Patron of the NSPCC Stop Organised Abuse Board. Nikesh received a MS in Finance from Boston College and a MBA from the Northeastern University in the United States.

Commenting on the appointment Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said "We are delighted with the appointment of Nikesh on our Board. His appointment further strengthens our board, which is amongst the finest in the country. I am confident that his rich experience in the international Telecom and IT sector will be of tremendous benefit to the company. In particular, Nikesh's strategic insights into innovation and emerging technologies will help Bharti Airtel develop a strong platform for the future."