[6] Datta-Ray returned to Singapore in 2007 to work on book with Lee Kuan Yew at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies[7] based on a series of one-on-one conversations and a host of classified documents.
After graduating in English from the University of Calcutta, Datta-Ray trained as a chartered accountant in England.
A Hindu – though his mother is of the Brahmo Samaj – Datta-Ray had a Catholic wedding in Australia to a Bengali woman whom he met in Sydney.
[9] Known as the Ingabanga, Datta-Ray defined his society thus: It meant "England-worshipping Bengali" for Rabindranath Tagore.
[13] Datta-Ray's monograph Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India (2009) charts aspects of Indian foreign policy with Singapore.
[15] Based on unique access to key decision makers including Lee Kuan Yew, Datta-Ray, for the first time, illuminates an essential aspect of Indian foreign relations on which hinges not only India's renewal but also the future of India's major foreign policy innovation since Non-Alignment—the 'Look East' policy.
An elegant writer with an eye for story-telling and a no–nonsense analytical pen, he traces the course of Indo-US ties from the time Indira Gandhi opened them in 1982.
[18]Earlier Datta-Ray published Bihar Shows the Way, a caustic take on India[19] and edited Issues and Challenges in Asian Journalism[20] Smash And Grab: The Annexation of Sikkim (1984)[21] is based on his personal friendships with the King of Sikkim and Indian decision makers.
[22] As the book described the process of the annexation of the Kingdom of Sikkim by the Indian government of Indira Gandhi in 1975, as "imperialism" it was banned in India.