HYBRID SEMINAR
LIVE FROM KOLKATA
INDIA’S SECURITY THREATS AND OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN THE EAST AND NER
4TH MARCH 2025 TUESDAY AT 0930HOURS
best experts
Our team of SpeakersSpeakers
PVSM, AVSM, VM
ACM ARUP RAHA
ACM Arup Raha retired as the CHIEF OF AIR STAFF and Chairman CHIEFS OF STAFF COMMITTEE on 31st Dec 2016. He graduated from NDA in 1973 and was commissioned into the IAF as a combat pilot. He has to his credit nearly 3500 hours of flying mostly on fighter aircraft. He has commanded a MiG-29 squadron, two frontline airbases and Advance HQs at Chandimandir, looking after joint operations with Western & South Western Commands of the Army. He is a qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader. He has the distinction of serving as an instructor at the prestigious Flying Instructors School and the Tactics & Combat Development Establishment. He has served as the Deputy Commandant of Air Force Academy and as the Military Attache’ in
Ukraine. He is an alumnus of DEFENCE SERVICES STAFF COLLEGE & NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE. Before taking over as the Air Chief he had commanded Central and Western Air Commands. A former President of CENERS-K, he is presently the Member Emeritus of CENERS-K.
PVSM, AVSM, VSM
LT. GEN. JOHN RANJAN MUKHERJEE
Lt Gen John Ranjan Mukherjee, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), son of Late Dr Chuni Lal Mukherjee, a renowned Doctor from West Bengal is an alumnus of La Martiniere College, Calcutta, National Defense Academy, Khadakvasla, Staff College at Camberly, UK, National Defence College, New Delhi, besides having done many other career courses and been an instructor at the *College of Combat, Mhow, MP. He was commissioned into the ASSAM Regiment in 1964 and rose to be the Colonel of the Regiment. He retired from Army service in 2004 as the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Eastern Command. During his service career he had commanded three battalions of the Assam Regiment, a mountain brigade, a mountain division, 15 Corps in J & K during the latter
part of the Kargil Conflict onwards. He had also served in many staff appointments at Army, Command and Corps/Division Headquarters and as Head of the Indian Training Team at Botswana Africa. He is known for his knowledge of J & K and India’s North East having served in these regions extensively and with men of the Assam Regiment almost throughout his career, and even after his retirement has been in close touch with the north east. He had authored a series of articles published on the Editorial pages of the Statesman, Telegraph and Ananda Bazaar Patrika newspapers and three books, titled ‘An Insiders Experience of Insurgency in India’s North East,’ ‘History of the ASSAM Regiment’ and on his ‘Reminiscences’ (under publication). He is currently President
of a think tank called the ‘Research Centre for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies (CENERS-K) Kolkata.
AVSM, VSM
MAJ. GEN. ARUN ROYE
Maj Gen Arun Roye , a graduate of National Defence Academy, was commissioned into The Rajput Regiment ,in 1967 and has the rare distinction of serving under the MHA and MEA, besides the MoD. He saw frontline action in Chhamb in 1971, with 8th Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, an unit with the sobriquet of “Bravest of the Brave” .
He raised the first Missile Company of 15th Battalion, The Brigade of Guards, the unit which he commanded from 1988 to 1991. He commanded the frontline Doka La Mountain Brigade, on the Watershed in Sikkim, from 1994 to 1996 and went onto become the General Officer Commanding of a frontline Desert Division in Gujarat and Rajasthan during OP PARAKRAM from 2001 to 2003. All his command assignments were in active operational and / or High Altitude Areas .
He was deputed to be the first Additional Director General of Assam Rifles under the MHA, in our North Eastern Region from 2003 to 2005. He was decorated with ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL, for his extraordinary Service to the Nation during this tenure in the field of Counter Insurgency. He was designated as the senior member of the Joint Working Group with China on Anti-Terrorism, by the MHA, and attended two meetings, one each in India and China.
He has trained the Bhutanese Army as an Instructor in IMTRAT, BHUTAN, and did the Command and General Staff Course in erstwhile USSR. He held the diplomatic assignment of Military and Defence Advisor in USA
from 1996 to 1999, under MEA, during sensitive times of Pokharan II.
He has the distinction of being Chief of Operations (BGS (Ops)), of Northern Command (J&K) from 1999 to 2001. He was decorated with the VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL, for his outstanding performance in USA and OP Vijay.
Qualified in Higher Command from Army War College, a graduate in Defence Studies from Chennai University, he followed up his MBA from IIMM, Delhi, with a degree in Strategic Management from College of Defence Management Secunderabad.
Gen Roye retired in Apr 2006. After taking a sabbatical for two years, he got involved in founding this Think Tank, – The Research Center for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies , Kolkata (CENERS-K). He is a member of the Governing Council of the Think Tank and is a regular invitee on various foras. He has been a visiting lecturer with various schools of management and universities in the country.
SM, VSM
BRIG. N S MUKHERJEE
He is a 1969 batch Infantry Officer commissioned into the BIHAR REGIMENT.A highly decorated soldier , he was awarded the”Sena Medal “ in 1992 while commanding his unit in J & K during the peak of militancy. He was again awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1997 while posted as Colonel General Staff (Operation) in Headquarters Eastern Command. Brigadier Mukherjee has served three tenures in Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and is very well conversent with the ground realities as it exists along the LAC with China. Brigadier Mukherjee has held prestigious Instructional and Staff appointments during his 35 years long service career. An alumnus of The War College , Mhow and Defence Services Staff College , Wellington he has been associated with CENERS-K as a life member since the Think Tank was founded and is now the Secretary and Treasurer of the Organisation. He was the Commandant of the BIHAR Regimental Centre before he hung up his uniform. Known in Academic and Debating Circles as an analytical and well informed person , he has been moderating debates and discussions for CENERS-K for some time.
VETERAN
COL. T S SARKAR
Colonel T S Sarkar (Veteran) was commissioned into the GARHWAL RIFLES of the Indian Army in 1991 and served for 29 years. He has led troops in operations such as OP RHINO, OP FALCON, and OP RAKSHAK, gaining extensive experience in counter-insurgency, security, crisis management, and human resources. He was part of the raising team for a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, established a Think Tank Cell at Command HQ, and raised a Movement Control Detachment in the North East with minimal resources. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Chief of Army Staff (CAOS) Commendation Card.
FORMER FOC-IN-C, EASTERN NAVAL COMMAND
ADMIRAL BISWAJIT DASGUPTA
Dasgupta was commissioned into the Indian Navy in the Executive branch in 1985. He is a specialist in Navigation and Direction. In the early years of his career, he served as the Navigating Officer of the Pondicherry-class minesweeper INS Bhavnagar, the Arnala-class corvette INS Androth and the Rajput-class guided
missile destroyer INS Ranvir. He has served as the flag lieutenant to the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. He also served briefly as the Deputy Squadron Commander of the Chukar Aerial Target Squadron. He has completed the staff course at the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the higher command course at the Army War College, Mhow. He has also attended the National Defence College, New Delhi. Dasgupta has commanded the Veer-class missile vessel INS Nishank, the Kora-class corvette INS Karmuk as the commissioning commanding officer, the Talwar-class guided missile frigate INS Tabar and was the 20th commanding officer of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. He has also served as the second-in-
command of the Astravahini-class torpedo recovery vessel INS Astravahini. Dasgupta has served as the Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet. In his staff appointments, he has served as the Commander Work Up and as the Staff Officer (ND) at Naval HQ. In his instructional appointments, Dasgupta has served as directing staff at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and as the Officer-in-Charge Navigation and Direction School. As a commodore, Dasgupta served as the Naval Assistant (NA) to the Chief of the Naval Staff.
FORMER SDS IN NDC, CYBER WARRIOR, SIGNALS
MAJ. GEN. P K MALLICK
An Electronics and Tele Communication Engineering graduate from B E College, Shibpur, M Tech from IIT, Kharagpur and Fellow of Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM is an alumni of Defence Services Staff College Wellington, College of Defence Management
Secunderabad and National Defence College. Commissioned in Corps of Signals of Indian Army, the officer has varied experience in command, staff and instructional appointments. The officer has taken part in OP RAKSHAK (Punjab), OP RHINO and OP RAKSHAK in the Valley. The officer has been DAAQMG in HQ 19 Infantry Division, Col GS(System) HQ Eastern Command, Deputy Chief Signals Officer HQ Northern Command and Chief Signals Officer HQ 15 Corps, DACIDS (DIARA) at HQ IDS and Chief Signals Officer in HQ Central Command. He had a tenure of Instructor Class A and Officer Commanding Junior Wing in Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow. He has commanded a Divisional Signal Regiment in OP VIJAY and OP PARAKRAM in Western Command. A winner of COAS Gold Medal Essay Competition and second prize winner four times at USI Essay Competition the officer is a prolific writer, regularly contributes in defence related journals and has published large number papers. He has delivered talks and participated in panel discussions at USI,
CLAWS, CAPS, NMF, CENJOWS, HQ ANC, Army War College, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow, Intelligence School, Pune, Computer Society of India (Bangalore) and Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (Lucknow). The Officer was posted as SDS (Army) at NDC, New Delhi
before retirement on April 2015.
FORMER AMB. TO MYANMAR
AMB. GAUTAM MUKHOPADHAYA
Gautam Mukhopadhaya has been Ambassador of India to Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. He has also worked in the United Nations Headquarters in New York as a Consultant on Social Development and has been a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was born on 24 May 1956, and studied at the all-boys’ boarding school, The Doon School in Dehradun, followed by graduation from Delhi University in
India. He joined the Foreign Service in 1980, and has served in various capacities in Indian Embassies in Mexico, France, Cuba, Afghanistan and Syria, the UN Mission in New York City, and the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence, in India. He has also worked in the UN Headquarters in New York as a Consultant on Social Development. He re-opened the Indian Embassy in Kabul in November 2001 after the new regime took over in Afghanistan. His father, B.Mukhopadhaya, was a very famous doctor of his times in Bihar. He has served in various capacities in the media and culture wings of the Ministry of External Affairs. He also coordinated the year-long ‘Festival of India’, the ‘l’annee de l’inde’ in France (1985–86). As India’s representative to the Third
Committee of the UN in New York (1996–1999), he dealt with issues relating to social development, human rights and advancement of women. He was also invited to join the UN Secretariat as a Consultant on social development for the preparatory process of the Copenhagen Social Summit plus Five UN General
Assembly Special Session (2000) for which he wrote reports on the ‘Social impact of Globalization’. He also then spent 6 months (October 2009-March 2010) at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, as a visiting scholar. Mr. Mukhopadhaya’s career in the Indian Foreign Service has been notable for the range of his professional experience. These include media, culture, human rights, social development, defence and security, and conventional political and diplomatic assignments.tortor ornare consectetur eu in risus.
HOD HISTORY DEPARTMENT, CU
PROF. AMIT DEY
Dr. Amit Dey is the Head of the Department and Asutosh (Chair) Professor of Medieval and Modern Indian History, in the Department of History, University of Calcutta, India. Ph.D. RAC convener both in History, C.U. & IDSK. He received a Ph.D. In History from the University of London for his work on The Image of the Prophet in Bengali Muslim Piety; 1850-1947 and completed his doctoral research as a Commonwealth Scholar. Many scholars completed their Ph.D. And M.Phil under his supervision. Published works include (4 books): and 70 articles. He has been awarded several international Fellowship (both in UK), Baden Wuerttemberg Fellowship (Germany), U.S. Department of State Fellowship, Max Weber Centre visiting Fellowship (Germany) and
Linnaeus-Palme Exchange Programme (three times in Sweden).
