National Seminar

Sub-regional cooperation: BIMSTEC and

Northeast India in Perspective

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

In Association With

Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata Chapter

Funded by
Indian Council of Social Science Research, Delhi

Dates

February 19 & February 20, 2020

Venue: IIT Guwahati, Conference Hall

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 Day 1
February 19, 2020

Afternoon Session

Special Lecture

Session III

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

BIMSTEC and Northeast India: Perceptions of security and governance

processes

Chairperson

Jaideep Saikia

Invited Speaker

Subrata Saha, Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff &

Present Member NSAB

About the Chairperson About the speaker

Jaideep Saikia is a Terrorism and Conflict
Analyst and author or editor of several
books, including Mind Over Matter (2017),
Terrorism: Patterns of
Internationalization (2009, with
Ekaterina Stepanova); Frontier in Flames:
North East India in Turmoil (2007); the
best-selling Terror Sans Frontiers:
Lt Gen Subrata Saha, PVSM, UYSM, YSM,
VSM ** is an officer of the Assam
Regiment. He is presently a Member of the
National Security Advisory Board, Govt. of
India. He retired from the Indian army as
the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, a senior
position whose responsibility was
perspective planning, force modernisation

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 Islamist Militancy in North East India
(2004); Development Challenges in India:
Assam Faces the 21st Century (2002); and
Contours: Essays on Security and
Strategy (2001). He has also published
over two dozen peer reviewed, academic
papers on security and strategy in
international and national security
journals. Saikia had his education at the
Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehra
Dun, St. Stephen’s College, University of
Delhi and in the University of Illinois at
Urban-Champaign, USA. Jaideep Saikia
also served the Government of India as an
Expert on North East India and Bangladesh
in the National Security Council
Secretariat and the Govt. of Assam in
security advisorial capacities. A recipient
of the Governor of Assam’s “Certificate of
Appreciation” for commendable work in
combating insurgency in Assam (9 June
1999), Saikia is a frequent invitee to
strategic institutions such as the
prestigious National Defence College, New
Delhi, Army War College, Mhow, National
Police Academy, Hyderabad, Institute for
Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi and
North East Police Academy, Umsaw.
Jaideep Saikia has lectured in Wilton Park,
UK, Rand Corporation, USA and important
think tanks in China such as CICIR among
other places in the world. He was a Senior
Fellow in the New Delhi based think tank,
Vivekananda International Foundation
and worked directly under the present
National Security Adviser. Widely travelled
on academic assignments, he has been a
member of the Indian delegation for Track
II Dialogue with Bangladesh, China,
Myanmar and Japan. His current area of
research includes a) Counter
Radicalisation strategy b) Insurgency in
the South Asia Region with particular
reference to the “Encirclement of India’s
North East” c) Bangladesh and c) Indo-
China Boundary as it pertains to the
eastern sector.
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and procurement. Post retirement he was
the Founding Director General of the
Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers.
His in-depth understanding of the North
East is based on his four decades of service
in the Assam Regiment. His insight on
Security and Governance is based on his
experience as Corps Commander of 15
Corps in Kashmir (2014-15), Additional
Director General Military Operations
(2013-2014), General Officer Commanding
of a Division in a Strike Corps, Counter
Insurgency in Kashmir, Assam and Punjab,
and in the Siachen Glacier (1986). He was
also the Deputy Regional Commander of
the United Nations Mission in Angola in
1996-97. As the Deputy Chief of Army, he
adopted the strategy, “Win Indian Wars
with Indian Solutions,” and initiated an
unprecedented collaborative process
involving the academia, industry and the
Army. He created the Army Design Bureau
in 2016. His academic record includes the
rare distinguished grading in the Indian
army’s Junior Command Course. He is the
only officer who has the distinction of
attending the Staff College, Camberley,
United Kingdom and Army War College,
United States of America. He was adjudged
the Best Overseas Student in the Staff
College Camberley and was awarded the
Gold Medal in the Higher Command
Course. His academic degrees include an M
Phil, two Masters’ degrees from India and
the USA and a Diploma in Management. He
is a distinguished fellow of the Centre for
Joint Warfare Studies, with several
publications in books, journals, weekly
magazines and newspapers. He regularly
lectures in the National Defence College,
National Security Guards, Armed Forces
War Colleges and in the College of Defence
Management.
 Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

February 19 & February 20, 2020

Venue: IIT Guwahati, Conference Hall