John McCarthy is the National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and has served as Australian Ambassador to Vietnam (1981-1983); Mexico (1985-1987); Thailand (1992-1994); the United States (1995-1997); Indonesia (1997-2000) Japan (2001-2004) and High Commissioner to India (2004-2009). He is currently Chair of the Australia-India Council, Deputy Chair of the Australia-India Institute, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Griffith Asia Institute and Co- Convenor of the Australia -Indonesia Dialogue. He is also involved in the private sector.