Welcome and Inaugural Keynote Address

Agenda

09:00 – 09:50 AM: State of Assam – From Insurgency to a Security–Development Pivot

Context
Assam has transitioned from being one of India’s most violence‑affected states during the peak of ULFA and ethnic insurgencies to a period of declining terror‑related fatalities and improved law and order. Yet the state now sits at the centre of new risk vectors: narcotics and arms corridors, residual ULFA‑I activity, jihadi modules linked to Bangladesh‑based outfits, citizenship and identity fault lines, and climate‑driven displacement in border and riverine belts. This opening session will frame Assam as both a security success story and a fragile pivot whose stability is critical for the wider Northeast.

Guiding questions

• How has Assam’s internal security profile evolved from the insurgency peaks of the 1990s–2000s to today’s low‑intensity but complex threat environment?

• What does the Centre expect from Assam as the principal gateway to the Northeast and as a frontline buffer against pressures from Bangladesh and the Golden Triangle narco‑economy?

• How should peace accords, policing reforms, and development initiatives be recalibrated to lock in long‑term stability?

Speakers

• Former/Current Senior Security Official 

• Former/Current DGP Assam / Former/Current GOC, 4 Corps

10:00 – 11:40 AM: Borderlands, Migration and Citizenship – Security and Legitimacy in Assam

Context
Assam’s border districts with Bangladesh, and its char and riverine areas, are epicentres of overlapping challenges: undocumented migration, citizenship anxieties (Assam Accord, NRC, CAA), eviction drives, and cross‑border crime. These pressures sit atop deep socio‑economic vulnerability and can be exploited both by insurgent remnants and jihadi recruiters. This session will examine how to secure Assam’s borders and interior without undermining the legitimacy of the state in the eyes of border communities.

Guiding questions

• How have migration flows, NRC/CAA politics, and eviction operations reshaped the risk profile of Assam’s border and char districts over the last 5–7 years?

• What is the right balance between strong border management, credible citizenship processes, and protection of basic rights to prevent alienation and radicalisation?

• How should Assam Police, BSF, district administrations, and local institutions share roles in border security, documentation, camp/settlement management, and community liaison?

Speaker

• Senior Border‑Management / BSF / Assam Police Official

• Academic/Practitioner on Migration, Citizenship and Northeast Borderlands

11:45 – 13:00 PM: Narco–Arms Corridors – Assam at the helm of Affairs

Context
Assam now records the highest NDPS case load in eastern and northeastern India and significant heroin seizures, reflecting its role as the main transit state between Myanmar‑based production and mainland Indian markets. At the same time, historic and emerging arms pipelines run through Assam from Indo‑Myanmar routes into insurgent and criminal networks across the region. This session will focus on Assam as the central corridor for drugs and weapons—and on how to dismantle these networks without merely displacing them.

Guiding questions

• What are the most important drug and arms corridors running through Assam today (road, rail, river), and how have they evolved post‑Myanmar crisis and post‑COVID?

• How can multi‑agency operations (Assam Police, NCB, Customs/DRI, Assam Rifles, BSF, NIA/ED) move from seizure‑centric enforcement to network‑centric disruption and financial targeting?

• What models exist to integrate anti‑narco and anti‑arms strategies with de‑addiction, alternative livelihoods, and local community partnerships in high‑risk districts?

Speakers

• Senior Assam Police / NCB / Assam Rifles Official specialising in NDPS and arms cases

• Policy/Research Expert on Organised Crime and Northeast Security

13:00 – 14:00 PM: Youth, Employment and Criminal Economies – Assam’s Internal Frontline

Context
Assam’s youth are simultaneously the main victims and potential enablers of insecurity: they are vulnerable to drug addiction, recruitment by trafficking networks, petty crime, ULFA‑I and emerging Islamist cells, but also central to community resilience. Persistent under‑employment, uneven development, and flood‑driven displacement compound these risks, particularly in urban fringes, chars, and conflict‑affected districts.

Guiding questions

• What does current data and field experience tell us about patterns of youth unemployment, addiction, gang activity, and low‑level participation in narco/arms logistics in Assam’s cities and rural belts?

• How can schools, madrasas, colleges, youth clubs, student unions, and religious institutions coordinate with the state to expand prevention, counselling, and reintegration pathways?

• Are hybrid models—Territorial Army and CAPF recruitment, community policing cadres, youth entrepreneurship clusters in logistics/IT/tourism—viable tools for both security and livelihood in Assam’s hotspots?

Speakers

• Academic/Think‑tank Expert on Youth, Conflict and Development in Northeast India

• Practitioner/Youth Leader working on de‑addiction or community‑based security in Assam

14:00 – 15:00 PM: Information Battles – Terrorism, Online Radicalisation and Social Cohesion in Assam

Context
Assam faces a dual terrorism landscape: residual ULFA‑I insurgency and evolving Islamist modules linked to JMB/ABT/AQIS, many of which rely heavily on digital propaganda, encrypted apps, and cross‑border ideological influence. The same online ecosystem also hosts disinformation and hate campaigns around migration, NRC/CAA, and communal incidents, with direct implications for law and order.

Guiding questions

• What are the main radicalisation vectors and influence operations relevant to Assam today—ULFA‑I narratives, Bangladesh‑linked jihadist content, ethnic/religious polarisation, or criminal recruitment?

• How can state cyber cells, district police, intelligence units, universities, madrasa boards, and civil society develop early‑warning and response mechanisms for online radicalisation and mobilisation?

• Which legal and technological tools (platform engagement, digital evidence, targeted blocking, OSINT) are realistically deployable in Assam, and how can they be combined with community‑driven counter‑narratives?

Speakers

• TBD

15:00 – 16:20 PM: Assam as Gateway – Connectivity, Trade and Security in the Northeast

Context
Assam is the logistical heart of the Northeast, sitting astride the Siliguri Corridor, the Brahmaputra–Barak river systems, and key rail/highway networks that link the region to the rest of India, Bangladesh and, via neighbouring states, to Myanmar. Act East and GATI‑Shakti projects promise major gains but, if unmanaged, can also accelerate trafficking, land conflicts and environmental stress.

Guiding questions

• How can Assam leverage emerging rail, road, river and aviation links to create local employment, logistics hubs, and value addition rather than remaining merely a transit corridor for goods—and for illicit flows?

• What safeguards are needed so that enhanced connectivity (road/rail to border ICPs, river ports, SEZs) does not intensify narcotics, arms, and human trafficking or deepen local inequalities?

• What institutional arrangements (state‑level Act East cells, cross‑border chambers, security‑development coordination forums) are required to align national connectivity projects with local security and community interests?

Speakers

• Senior Fellow / Policy Expert on Act East and Connectivity

• Representation from MEA / Official experienced in Bangladesh–Myanmar–Northeast affairs

16:20 – 17:00 PM: Land and River Ports as Security and Economic Anchors in Assam

Context
Beyond highways and railways, Assam’s strategic position under Act East and the inland‑waterways agenda depends on secure, efficient, and community‑responsive land ports and river ports—such as the Dhubri riverine port, Karimganj terminals, and land customs stations along the Bangladesh border. If designed well, these nodes can shift trade from informal to formal channels, generate employment, and embed security protocols into everyday economic activity; if mismanaged, they can become new chokepoints for trafficking and corruption.

Guiding questions

• How can land and river ports strengthen Assam’s role as a practical gateway for the Northeast and for India’s Bay of Bengal/Act East strategy while remaining resilient to cross‑border shocks?

• How can LPAI and IWAI infrastructure support secure trade through points like Dhubri, Karimganj and other ICPs/ports, with integrated customs, immigration, and security architecture?

• What safeguards and coordination mechanisms are needed to balance trade facilitation with border security, environmental sensitivity (erosion/flooding) and local community livelihoods?

Speakers

• Representative and Regional Coordinator / Senior Official, Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)