Thanks for the Wikipedia page!

I think it makes it fairly clear he is well qualified to write on the topic. Only one of the his 8 books wasn't about India. He was awarded the "Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Distinguished Overseas Indian)" award by the President of India!

Additionally he has published extensively specifically about India and democracy since at least 1997: https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=S...

I'd note in particular his contribution to the 1997 classic in the field "Paths to Peace - Is Democracy the Answer?"

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/paths-peace