04-05 October 2021
Leh, Ladakh
The Himalayan region acts as a natural frontier for India. Discourse on Himalayan region is incomplete without considering the larger construct formed by the Pamir Knot, Hindu Kush ranges in the West and Karakoram range in the East. Despite the political and geographical boundaries, this East-West ecosystem had the confluence of trade, commerce, and connectivity over the centuries. Factors like these add to the existing importance of Himalayas, however, the region extending from Afghanistan to Myanmar largely remains unexplored. The global flashpoints around geopolitical developments, terrorism, etc vis-à-vis the Himalayan region have to be understood differently, owing to its topographical, demographical, and historical uniqueness.
The First Conference on Geopolitics of the Himalayan Region was organized by India Foundation in collaboration with Jammu Kashmir Study Centre, conjoining with the birth centenary celebration of Kushok Bakula Rinpoche at Leh. The second edition of the conference has been organised by India Foundation in collaboration with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council from 04-05 October 2021 at Leh. The conference is being inaugurated by H.E. Shri Radha Krishna Mathur, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, Union Territory of Ladakh on 04 October 2021. The valedictory session will be graced by the address of Shri Tashi Gyalson, Chairman, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh and Shri Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha on 05 October 2021.
Over the two days a delegation of twenty-three domain experts deliberated upon the geopolitical developments in the region that have a bearing on countries situated within the Himalayan region. The delegation comprised of Shri Ram Madhav, Member, Board of Governors, India Foundation; Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, Member, NDMA, Govt of India and Former General Officer Commanding 15 Corps (Srinagar), 21 Corps; Shri Shaurya Doval, Member, Board of Governors, India Foundation; Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Member, Board of Trustees, India Foundation; Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, Distinguished Fellow, CLAWS and VIF; Lt Gen Arun Sahni, Former General Officer Commanding in Chief, Indian Army and Member, Board of Governors, India Foundation; Shri Alok Bansal, Director, India Foundation; Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch, Director, India Foundation; Shri Gautam Mukhopadhyay, Former Ambassador; Shri P Stobdan, Former Ambassador; Ms Prabha Rao, Distinguished Fellow, India Foundation; Shri Nitin Gokhale, Founder: BharatShakti and StratNewsGlobal; Col S Dinny, Editor, Chanakya Forum; Dr Shantihe Mariet D’ Souza, Founding Professor, Kautilya School of Public Policy; Shri Prafulla Ketkar, Editor, Organiser Weekly; Shri Mahesh Ranjan Debata, Assistant Professor, Centre for Inner Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Shri Arhan Bagati, Founder, Kyari; Shri Rohit Kumar, Research Fellow, India Foundation; Ms Soumya Chaturvedi, Senior Research Fellow, India Foundation; Shri Siddharth Singh, Senior Research Fellow, India Foundation; and Shri Aaditya Tiwari, Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, Arunachal Pradesh.
