Welcome and Inaugural Keynote Address

09:00 – 09:45 AM: Meghalaya at the Eastern Gateway: Peace, Pressure and Borderland Security

Context
Meghalaya remains one of the relatively peaceful states of the North East, yet its strategic location makes it highly sensitive to borderland pressures. The state sits between Assam and Bangladesh, connects hill communities with cross-border trade routes, and faces recurring concerns around illegal migration, smuggling, residual militancy, narcotics, mining-linked criminality, tourism-linked vulnerabilities and social anxieties over identity and land. This opening session will frame Meghalaya not as a conflict zone, but as a state where peace must be protected through stronger border governance, lawful mobility management, community confidence and coordinated security planning.

Guiding questions

• How has Meghalaya’s risk profile changed over the last five years?

• What makes Meghalaya important to India’s internal security and eastern border strategy?

• How can the state preserve peace while addressing migration, smuggling, drugs, mining and identity anxieties?

• What should be the core priorities for Meghalaya’s security and development roadmap over the next 12–24 months?

Speaker

• TBD

10:00 – 10:45 AM: Assam–Meghalaya Border: From Disputed Lines to Confidence-Based Governance

Context
The Assam–Meghalaya boundary remains one of the most sensitive inter-state issues in the North East. The 2022 agreement on six disputed areas created a pathway for settlement, but local-level tensions, demarcation challenges, police coordination gaps and community anxieties continue to demand careful handling. Incidents such as Mukroh have shown that border disputes cannot be treated only as cartographic questions; they affect trust in policing, inter-state relations, local livelihoods and public confidence. This session will focus on practical mechanisms to prevent escalation and build durable peace along the inter-state border.

Guiding questions

• What lessons should be drawn from recent Assam–Meghalaya border tensions?

• How can both states improve police coordination, joint verification and crisis-response SOPs?

• How can local communities be included in demarcation without politicising border identity?

• What confidence-building measures are needed in disputed and newly demarcated areas?

Speakers

• TBD

11:00 – 11:45 AM: Bangladesh Borderlands: Infiltration, Smuggling and Community Security

Context
Meghalaya’s long border with Bangladesh is central to its internal security environment. The border is linked to concerns over illegal entry, cattle smuggling, narcotics, contraband goods, undocumented movement and pressure on border villages. Instability or political change in Bangladesh can also affect local security perceptions in Meghalaya. The challenge is to secure the border firmly while ensuring that border communities are not treated merely as surveillance points, but as active partners in intelligence, lawful trade, early warning and social stability.

Guiding questions

• What are the major patterns of illegal movement and smuggling along Meghalaya’s Bangladesh border?

• How can BSF, Meghalaya Police, Customs, district administration and village institutions coordinate better?

• What should a smart border model include: fencing, surveillance, legal trade corridors, local reporting and humanitarian safeguards?

• How can border villages be protected from both criminal networks and excessive disruption of everyday life?

Speakers

• TBD

12:00 – 12:45 PM: Residual Militancy and Preventive Counterterrorism: HNLC, Extortion and Peace Pathways

Context
Meghalaya has moved far away from the high-intensity insurgency phase seen in earlier decades, but residual militancy continues to matter. HNLC’s presence, extortion patterns, explosive incidents, recruitment attempts, symbolic messaging and external linkages require a preventive counterterrorism approach. The state must balance lawful enforcement with channels for dialogue, surrender, rehabilitation and community confidence. The session will examine how Meghalaya can prevent the revival of armed networks without giving them political space to intimidate society.

Guiding questions

• What is the current nature of residual militancy in Meghalaya?

• How can extortion, recruitment, explosives access and propaganda networks be disrupted?

• What role should dialogue, surrender, rehabilitation and monitoring play in preventing re-radicalisation?

• How can policing remain firm while avoiding alienation of communities?

Speakers

• TBD

13:45 – 14:30 PM: Preying the Predator: Narcotics, Synthetic Drugs and Inter-State Organised Crime

Context
Narcotics have become one of Meghalaya’s most serious emerging security and social challenges. Heroin, cannabis, pharmaceutical drugs, synthetic substances and courier networks move through inter-state routes connecting Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Bangladesh-linked corridors. The issue is not limited to seizures; organised crime depends on financiers, handlers, transporters, local facilitators, digital communication, addiction networks and youth vulnerability. This session will focus on shifting from carrier-level enforcement to network-led disruption, while strengthening rehabilitation and prevention.

Guiding questions

• How are narcotics and synthetic drugs moving through Meghalaya’s inter-state routes?

• How can NCORD, ANTF, police, NCB and local intelligence systems target financiers and logistics nodes?

• What community-based rehabilitation and prevention models are needed for affected youth?

• How can Meghalaya combine enforcement, counselling, education and livelihood support?

Speakers

• TBD

14:45 – 15:30 PM: Illegal Mining, Explosives and Environmental Security in Jaintia Hills

Context
Illegal coal mining, rat-hole mining, unsafe labour practices, explosives movement and environmental degradation make mining a major internal security and governance concern in Meghalaya. Fatal mining accidents reveal not only safety failures but also deeper issues of illegal extraction, local patronage, informal labour, transport networks and weak enforcement. This session will examine mining as an organised economic crime problem, where environmental security, worker protection, criminal finance and rule of law must be addressed together.

Guiding questions

• How do illegal mining networks survive despite enforcement and regulatory restrictions?

• What systems are needed to control explosives, transport routes, labour exploitation and illegal financing?

• How can district administration, police, mining authorities and local councils coordinate enforcement?

• What livelihood and regulatory alternatives can reduce dependence on unsafe mining?

Speakers

• TBD

15:45 – 16:30 PM: Identity, Mobility and Lawful Verification: ILP, MRSSA and Social Confidence

Context
Meghalaya’s politics of identity is closely linked to land, employment, demography, migration, tourism, railway connectivity and indigenous protection. Demands for ILP, concerns over undocumented workers, the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, and local verification drives reflect deeper anxieties about cultural security and demographic confidence. The challenge is to protect indigenous communities without encouraging vigilantism, harassment, ethnic profiling or disruption of lawful mobility and tourism. This session will examine how Meghalaya can build a humane and accountable mobility-management framework.

Guiding questions

• How can Meghalaya address indigenous concerns over migration and mobility through lawful mechanisms?

• What safeguards are needed to prevent vigilantism and informal policing?

• How can worker registration, tourist registration and local verification be made transparent and non-discriminatory?

• What balance is needed between identity protection, tourism, investment and constitutional mobility?

Speakers
TBD

16:45 – 17:30 PM: Connectivity, Trade and Local Interests: Dawki, Shillong–Dawki Road and Act East Linkages

Context
Meghalaya is strategically placed for India’s Act East and neighbourhood connectivity vision. Dawki–Tamabil, the Shillong–Dawki corridor, Bangladesh-linked trade, tourism circuits and future transport projects can create jobs and local enterprise. Yet connectivity also produces anxieties over migration, land, environment, smuggling and unequal benefits. This session will focus on how Meghalaya can convert connectivity into local development while ensuring security, community consultation and border management.

Guiding questions

• How can Meghalaya benefit from Dawki–Tamabil trade and wider India–Bangladesh connectivity?

• What safeguards are needed to ensure local employment, land protection and community participation?

• How can trade infrastructure reduce smuggling by expanding lawful economic channels?

• How should road, border, tourism and logistics planning be integrated?

Speakers
TBD

17:30 – 18:15 PM: Press, Public Communication and Information Warfare: Rumours, Border Narratives and Digital Harm

Context
Meghalaya’s security environment is increasingly shaped by narratives. Rumours around illegal migration, border incidents, HNLC, mining, narcotics, tourism crimes, religious identity, outsider presence and inter-state disputes can rapidly affect public order. Social media can amplify fear, anger and misinformation, while digital spaces may also enable drug networks, recruitment or intimidation. The press, digital creators, police and civil administration must build a responsible communication framework without restricting legitimate reporting or local voices.

Guiding questions

• How do rumours and digital narratives affect Meghalaya’s internal security?

• What role should the press play during border incidents, narcotics cases, mining accidents and identity-related tensions?

• How can police and administration share verified information without compromising investigations?

• What model is needed for multilingual fact-checking, crisis communication and public trust?

Speakers

• TBD

18:15 – 19:00 PM: Pathways to Stabilisation: Meghalaya Peace, Border and Community Resilience Framework

Context
Meghalaya requires an integrated framework that connects border security, Assam–Meghalaya settlement, Bangladesh border management, HNLC prevention, anti-narcotics action, illegal mining enforcement, lawful mobility, youth rehabilitation, disaster preparedness, trade connectivity and responsible public communication. These challenges cannot be handled in isolated silos. The concluding roundtable will consolidate the day’s discussions into a practical 12–24 month roadmap for Meghalaya’s peace, security and development.

Guiding questions

• What should a Meghalaya Peace, Border and Community Resilience Framework include over the next 12–24 months?
  What inter-agency mechanism is needed between BSF, Meghalaya Police, Customs, NCB, district administration, autonomous district councils, traditional institutions and civil society?
  What measurable indicators should be used for progress on border security, drugs, illegal mining, youth protection and public trust?
  How can Meghalaya become a model for peaceful borderland governance in the North East?

Speakers

• TBD