Rao will be affiliated with the Wilson Centre's Asia programme and spend three months in residence at the Wilson Centre, a key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues, beginning in June 2017.
"She will be working on a book project on the Indo-China relationship and will be contributing to the Wilson Centre's activities on India, including its India in Asia Initiative," the Wilson Centre said.
She also served as India's foreign secretary from 2009 to 2011.
Following her retirement from public service, Rao received an appointment as Meera and Vikram Gandhi fellow at the India Initiative at the Brown University.
More From This Section
She has taught as an undergraduate seminar at the Brown University called 'India in the World'.
The Woodrow Wilson International Centre for scholars is the living, national memorial to US' 28th President Woodrow Wilson, created by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington.