Welcome and Inaugural Keynote Address

09:15 - 10:15 AM: Guarding Arunachal Pradesh: The Assam Rifles along the India-Myanmar Frontier 

Context

Arunachal Pradesh’s approximately 520-km frontier with Myanmar presents a uniquely complex border-management environment shaped by dense forests, mountainous terrain, sparse settlements, limited connectivity and the continuing effects of instability across Myanmar. In the Tirap–Changlang–Longding belt, these challenges intersect with residual insurgent networks, narcotics and arms trafficking, organised crime and the gradual implementation of border fencing, requiring the Assam Rifles and other agencies to combine physical presence with intelligence, technology, mobility, inter-agency coordination and sustained situational awareness.

The session will also examine the wider principle that border security and border development must reinforce one another. The strategic significance of Vijaynagar, with its historic association with the Assam Rifles and its continuing challenges of connectivity, public services, livelihoods and community aspirations, offers a compelling case study. In this context, the Vibrant Villages Programme-II provides an important framework for strengthening frontier communities through infrastructure, telecommunications, healthcare, education and economic opportunity—ensuring that people living along the border remain confident partners in sustaining India’s security and national presence.

Guiding questions

• How are instability in Myanmar, residual insurgent networks, narcotics, arms trafficking and difficult terrain changing the requirements of border guarding in Arunachal Pradesh?

• What lessons do Vijaynagar and the wider TCL frontier offer regarding the historic and future role of Assam Rifles in combining security, community confidence and national presence?

• How can VVP-II, strategic connectivity and improved public services strengthen population retention, livelihoods and security along the India–Myanmar frontier?

• What model of coordination between Assam Rifles, Arunachal Pradesh Police, Central and State governments, infrastructure agencies and frontier communities can create a secure, connected and prosperous border region?

Speaker

• Lt Gen (Retd) Shokin Chauhan, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM
  Former Director General
  The Assam Rifles

10:15 - 11:00 AM: Arunachal Pradesh’s Strategic Importance in the Act East Policy, Border trade and Regional Connectivity

Context

Arunachal Pradesh occupies a pivotal position in India’s Act East Policy, sharing international boundaries with Myanmar to the east, Bhutan to the west and China to the north. Its geography places the State at the intersection of national security, border trade, regional connectivity and India’s wider engagement with Southeast Asia. Historic routes such as the Nampong–Pangsau Pass corridor, proximity to Upper Assam’s economic centres, and the possibility of stronger road, logistics and trade infrastructure give Arunachal Pradesh the potential to evolve from a remote frontier into an important gateway linking the North East with Myanmar and, over the longer term, Southeast Asian markets.

Realising this potential, however, requires more than physical connectivity. It will depend on developing viable border economies, local markets, logistics and warehousing, digital and banking infrastructure, tourism, horticulture and other value chains that can generate tangible benefits for frontier communities. The session will examine how the Central and State governments, Land Ports Authority of India, infrastructure agencies, security forces and local stakeholders can work together to strengthen regulated cross-border trade, revive viable traditional trading routes where conditions permit, and align connectivity initiatives with security, sustainability and community aspirations. The larger objective is to ensure that Act East becomes not merely a geopolitical vision, but a practical development pathway for Arunachal Pradesh and its border communities.

Guiding questions

• How can border trade in Arunachal Pradesh be structured to benefit local communities while addressing national security concerns?

• What forms of connectivity and infrastructural development are most urgent for linking Arunachal Pradesh with Southeast Asia?

• How can regional cooperation frameworks help manage crossborder challenges specific to Arunachal Pradesh?

• In what ways can community participation and peopletopeople contact strengthen inclusive policymaking for border trade and connectivity?

• How can the tourism industry be boosted to contribute to sustainable livelihoods in Arunachal Pradesh?

Speakers

• Dr. Rikil Chyrmang
  Associate Professor,
  Special Centre for the Study of North East India (SCSNEI)
  Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU)

11:00 - 12:30 AM: Policing in Arunachal Pradesh: Security, Law Enforcement and Community Resilience

Context

Policing in Arunachal Pradesh operates across a uniquely complex environment shaped by difficult terrain, dispersed populations, sensitive international and inter-state borders, insurgent spill-over, organised crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime and emerging threats to critical infrastructure and public order. While the overall security situation has improved considerably, districts such as Tirap, Changlang and Longding continue to require sustained attention to extortion, illegal arms, cross-border movement and residual underground networks.

The contemporary policing challenge therefore extends beyond conventional law enforcement. It requires intelligence-led policing, stronger inter-agency coordination, community trust, technology-enabled investigation and early disruption of criminal and insurgent networks. The session will examine how Arunachal Pradesh Police can strengthen preventive policing while balancing security, development and public confidence.

Guiding questions

• What are the most significant emerging policing and internal-security challenges confronting Arunachal Pradesh today?

• How can police strengthen intelligence and investigations against organised crime, narcotics, extortion, illegal arms and insurgent support networks?

• How can coordination among Arunachal Pradesh Police, Assam Rifles, CAPFs, intelligence agencies and neighbouring states be further strengthened?

• What role can technology, community policing, youth engagement and local institutions play in improving early warning, crime prevention and public trust?

Speakers

• Shri Mihin  Gambo (IPS)
  SP, Special Branch (PHQ Itanagar)
  Arunachal Pradesh Police

• Shri Achin  Garg (IPS)
  SP, Crime (PHQ Itanagar)
  Arunachal Pradesh Police

12:30 - 13:30 AM: Hydropower, Ecology and Disaster Resilience: Development, Indigenous Consent and the Siang-Brahmaputra Security Question

Context

Arunachal Pradesh is central to India’s hydropower, renewable-energy, water-security and strategic-development ambitions, with the Siang, Subansiri, Dibang and Lohit river systems carrying immense economic and geopolitical significance. At the same time, developments upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, including China’s large hydropower project, have added a strategic dimension to the Siang–Brahmaputra question, while proposed projects such as SUMP continue to raise important concerns around displacement, indigenous rights, cultural landscapes, ecological sustainability and meaningful community consent.

The session will examine these issues through the wider reality that Arunachal Pradesh is a multi-hazard Himalayan state, vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, cloudbursts, flash floods, GLOFs, river erosion, forest fires, extreme rainfall and cascading infrastructure failures. It will explore how hydropower and all major infrastructure projects can embed disaster resilience from the planning stage through rigorous scientific assessment, early-warning systems, resilient connectivity, civil-military preparedness and meaningful participation of indigenous communities—ensuring that development strengthens energy security, ecological resilience, community trust and long-term national security together.

Guiding questions

• How should India balance hydropower and water-security requirements in the Siang–Brahmaputra basin with ecological sustainability, indigenous rights and downstream safety?

• How can earthquakes, landslides, GLOFs, cloudbursts, flash floods, forest fires and cascading infrastructure failures be integrated into the design and approval of major projects in Arunachal Pradesh?

• What institutional mechanisms are required for real-time monitoring, early warning, evacuation, infrastructure redundancy and coordinated disaster response involving the State Government, NDMA/NDRF, Armed Forces, scientific agencies and project developers?

• How can scientific transparency, meaningful community consultation and indigenous knowledge strengthen trust and reduce the risk of development projects becoming sources of prolonged social conflict?

Speakers

• Col K.C. Monnappa (Retd)
  Director,
  Disaster Management Division
  Centre for Internal Security Analysis (CISA)

13:30 - 14:15 AM: Whole-of-Government Security and Governance: Strengthening Coordination, Development and Resilience in Arunachal Pradesh

Context

Arunachal Pradesh’s security and governance challenges increasingly cut across traditional institutional boundaries. Border management, insurgency, narcotics trafficking, organised crime, disaster response, infrastructure protection, migration and community engagement may simultaneously involve the State Police, Assam Rifles, Armed Forces, intelligence agencies, Central Armed Police Forces, district administration, State Government departments and Central agencies. While each institution possesses specialised capabilities and mandates, complex crises can expose challenges of information silos, overlapping responsibilities, differing chains of command, fragmented databases, delayed information-sharing and insufficient coordination between security and civilian institutions.

The session will examine how principles of public administration, accountability and collaborative governance can strengthen inter-agency coordination in Arunachal Pradesh. Rather than creating additional institutional layers, the focus should be on making existing mechanisms work more effectively through clearly defined responsibilities, interoperable information systems, designated nodal officers, joint assessments, regular coordination meetings, shared situational awareness, joint exercises and mechanisms for reviewing outcomes. Particular attention may be given to strengthening coordination at the district and frontier levels, where operational information, community intelligence, development administration and security requirements frequently intersect. The objective should be to move from incident-driven coordination to institutionalised whole-of-government preparedness.

Guiding questions

• What institutional, administrative and information-sharing gaps currently limit effective coordination among security agencies, police, intelligence organisations, civil administration and State departments in Arunachal Pradesh?

• How can responsibilities, accountability and information-sharing protocols be better defined so that agencies collaborate without duplication, jurisdictional ambiguity or delays in decision-making?

• Can district-level joint coordination mechanisms, shared situational-awareness platforms, designated nodal officers and regular multi-agency exercises strengthen preparedness for insurgency, narcotics, border incidents and disasters?

• How can Arunachal Pradesh move from coordination during crises to a permanent “whole-of-government” model in which security, development, disaster management and community engagement reinforce one another?

Speakers

• Prof (Dr.) Abhinav Sharma
  Professor
  Faculty of Social Sciences
  Banaras Hindu University

14:15 - 15:15 PM: Along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh: Security Challenges, Strategic Competition and Frontier Preparedness

Context

Arunachal Pradesh occupies one of the most consequential sectors of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where the security challenge is shaped not only by terrain and the unresolved boundary question, but also by China’s expanding military capabilities in Tibet, strategic infrastructure, surveillance and technology, political signalling, cartographic assertions and evolving grey-zone methods. The session will examine how developments involving the PLA and Western Theatre Command, Tibet, strategic mobility, information warfare and the wider India–China relationship are changing the nature of competition across the entire Arunachal frontier, requiring India to move from incident-driven border management towards persistent strategic awareness and long-term preparedness.

The discussion will also explore how military preparedness must be reinforced by strategic infrastructure, resilient communications, border villages, administrative presence, disaster preparedness and water security. From the Frontier Highway and Vibrant Villages Programme to the emerging Siang–Yarlung Tsangpo dimension, Arunachal Pradesh’s security increasingly depends on integrating defence capability with infrastructure, technology, community confidence and national resilience—building a frontier that can withstand military, political, informational and environmental pressures over the coming decade.

Guiding questions

• What are the current security risks emerging from Tirap, Changlang and Longding in the context of Myanmar’s instability?

• How can residual insurgent networks, extortion systems, recruitment channels and cross-border linkages be disrupted?

• What role can Assam Rifles, Arunachal Pradesh Police, intelligence agencies and civil administration play in coordinated preventive security?

• How can security operations avoid alienating communities while firmly addressing armed intimidation and criminal capture?

Speakers

• Shri Jayadeva Ranade
  President,
  Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS)
  Former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India

15:15 - 15:45 PM: Geostrategic Gateway: Arunachal Pradesh as the Land Bridge to Southeast Asia

Context

Arunachal Pradesh has traditionally been viewed primarily through the lens of border security, territorial defence and strategic competition along India’s eastern frontier. However, within India’s evolving Act East Policy and wider Indo-Pacific strategy, the State also possesses the potential to emerge as an important overland gateway linking India’s Northeast with Myanmar and, eventually, the wider economies of Mainland Southeast Asia. Expanding highway networks, improved border infrastructure, logistics facilities and stronger connectivity towards the India–Myanmar frontier can gradually transform Arunachal Pradesh from a perceived strategic periphery into a frontier of connectivity, commerce and regional engagement.

Realising this potential, however, will require balancing connectivity ambitions with the realities of political instability in Myanmar, difficult terrain, border security, insurgent and criminal networks, narcotics trafficking, infrastructure gaps and the interests of indigenous border communities. The session will examine how Arunachal Pradesh can integrate strategic infrastructure, border trade, local livelihoods and transnational connectivity while ensuring that greater mobility does not create new security vulnerabilities. It will explore how the State can evolve into a secure and economically productive land bridge to Southeast Asia, strengthening local prosperity while expanding India’s strategic and economic presence across its eastern neighbourhood and the broader Indo-Pacific.

Guiding questions

• How can Arunachal Pradesh be integrated more effectively into India’s Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific strategy as an overland gateway to Myanmar and Mainland Southeast Asia?

• What strategic infrastructure, transport corridors, logistics facilities and border-trade mechanisms are required to convert Arunachal Pradesh from a frontier State into a regional connectivity hub?

• How can India balance greater cross-border connectivity with security concerns arising from instability in Myanmar, insurgent networks, narcotics trafficking, organised crime and irregular movement?

• How can local and indigenous communities benefit directly from greater connectivity through employment, entrepreneurship, tourism, trade and value-chain integration, ensuring that strategic connectivity also produces inclusive frontier development?

Speakers

• Dr. Sampa Kundu
  Deputy Director
  Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

15:45 - 16:15 PM: Youth: Preventing Drugs, Recruitment and Building Resilience

Context

Arunachal Pradesh’s youth are central to the State’s long-term security, social stability and economic future. In remote, tribal and border districts—unemployment, limited livelihood opportunities, substance abuse, educational discontinuity, migration pressures and weak access to counselling can increase vulnerability to drug addiction, narcotics courier networks, trafficking, extortion, misinformation and recruitment or exploitation by armed groups. Educational disengagement can further deepen these risks, making continued access to schooling, skills and structured opportunities an important component of preventive security.

The session will examine how the Arunachal Pradesh State Youth Policy 2025 can be translated into a practical youth-resilience framework combining education, mental-health support, family counselling, sports, skills, entrepreneurship, employment and civic participation. It will also explore the role of families, student organisations, women’s groups, tribal institutions, village bodies, religious organisations, schools, universities and civil society as early-warning and support networks. The central proposition is that preventing youth vulnerability requires intervention long before policing becomes necessary—by strengthening the social, educational and economic ecosystem around young people and creating credible alternatives to drugs, illicit economies and violent mobilisation.

Guiding questions

• What are the principal educational, economic, social and psychological vulnerabilities affecting youth in Arunachal Pradesh, particularly in Tirap, Changlang, Longding and other remote border districts?

• How can the State Youth Policy 2025 be translated into district-level interventions integrating education, skills, entrepreneurship, sports, counselling and employment?

• How can families, civil society, student bodies, tribal institutions and educational institutions help prevent addiction and recruitment into narcotics, trafficking, extortion and armed networks?

• What rehabilitation and reintegration models are needed for drug-affected youth, vulnerable students, former couriers and unemployed young people to reconnect them with education, livelihoods and community life?

Speakers

• Dr. Kaushalendra Pratap Singh
  Head, Department of Social Work
  Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh

16:15 - 17:15 PM: The Indian Air Force in Internal Security Operations: Air Power Beyond the Battlefield

Context

Arunachal Pradesh presents one of India’s most demanding aerospace and frontier-security environments, shaped by long international boundaries with China and Myanmar, mountainous terrain, dispersed settlements, limited surface connectivity and recurring natural disasters. In this environment, the Indian Air Force functions far beyond its conventional combat role, providing strategic air mobility, air maintenance, intelligence and surveillance support, rapid reinforcement of forward areas, casualty evacuation and logistical sustainment. Its Advanced Landing Grounds, transport aircraft and helicopter fleets provide critical redundancy when roads are disrupted or inaccessible, while joint operations with the Army, Assam Rifles, BRO, CAPFs, intelligence agencies and civil administration strengthen India’s ability to maintain security and governance across remote frontier regions.

The IAF is equally important to human security, disaster resilience and nation building in a disaster-sensitive state exposed to earthquakes, landslides, cloudbursts, floods and prolonged isolation of communities. Its HADR, MEDEVAC, emergency airlift and Aid to Civil Authorities capabilities often provide the fastest means of reaching affected populations, while places such as Vijaynagar demonstrate how air power can simultaneously sustain strategic presence and civilian life—the IAF historically serving as a vital connectivity and logistics lifeline and the Vijaynagar ALG strengthening both military preparedness and access for local administration. The session will examine how aerospace power, emerging surveillance technologies, resilient air infrastructure and deeper civil-military coordination can strengthen border preparedness, disaster response, frontier governance and community resilience across Arunachal Pradesh.

Guiding questions

• How can the Indian Air Force further strengthen strategic mobility, surveillance and logistical sustainment along Arunachal Pradesh’s difficult and increasingly important frontiers?

• How should air power, Advanced Landing Grounds, helicopters, transport aircraft and emerging ISR technologies be integrated with ground forces and civil agencies to create a resilient frontier-security architecture?

• Given Arunachal Pradesh’s multi-hazard environment, how can the IAF, NDRF/SDRF, Armed Forces and State administration strengthen joint HADR, evacuation, emergency logistics and disaster-response preparedness?

• What lessons does Vijaynagar offer on the role of the IAF in connecting remote communities, supporting governance and ensuring that strategic air infrastructure contributes simultaneously to national security and frontier development?

Speakers

• Official Delegation of the Indian Air Force (IAF)