New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI/ATK): An international think tank based in New Delhi, Global Counter-Terrorism Council (GCTC) organized a three-day conference on Secure India 2.0. The conference was held keeping in mind the vision of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi of Securing India and in memory of Global CounterTerrorism Council (GCTC) Founder Late Major General Raj Krishan Malhotra, AVSM, VSM (Retd.).
The major aspects of discussion during the conference were Strategic Infrastructure and Border Development, which successfully probed into the intricacies of border guarding, border management, and strategic infrastructure. The speakers emphasized the evolution, and the capability of the authorities to meet the future challenges that might arise.
In remembering Major General Raj Krishan Malhotra, his wife Veenakshi Malhotra, and his son Vivek Malhotra, collectively highlighted the General's dedication to the services and the country. The conference was preceded by an inaugural session wherein Dr YogendraNarain, Patron-GCTC, Former Defence Secretary of Government of India, had rightly pointed out the technological changes along the borders such as bulletproof bunkers which are modular and portable, which proves to be important along the LOC and LAC in case of ceasefire violations. Prakash Singh, Patron-GCTC, Former DG BSF had highlighted the phenomenal strategic infrastructure development in Punjab and equated it to cutting off the oxygen supply to terrorism. Dr ShekarDutt, Patron-GCTC, Former Governor and Former Defence Secretary& Former Deputy National Security Advisor, Government of India, had highlighted the importance of surveillance and noted "The best way to secure the borders Is to know what is happening On the other side. And Technology provides that opportunity with different forms of technology like satellites and the other forms of surveillance.
The first day began with a case study presented by Lt Col Guermantes Lailari, Former USAF Foreign Area Officer on the challenges faced by Israel at its borders. This was followed by a panel discussion on Historical perspectives of borders including the coastal areas. The second panel discussion was on the External security challenges at the borders and the response of other countries and solutions that was chaired by PrabhaRao, IPS (Retd), Special Secretary, Cab. Sect., GoI. The third panel discussion was on the Internal security challenges at the land borders with an emphasis on the border management along Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan with Lt Gen K.J. Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, Former GOC-in-C, Western Army Command, Indian Army as the session chair.
The second day began with a panel discussion on the Internal security challenges at the land borders with an emphasis on the Indo-China border management by ITBP and the challenges faced along the Indo-Myanmar border with Lt Gen Arun Sahni, PVSM, UYSM, SM, VSM Former General Officer Commanding in Chief, Indian Army as the session chair. The fifth-panel discussion was on China's policy of encircling India and measures to counter them with emphasis on the challenges posed by the BRI and China's infrastructure build-up along the Ladakh-Xijing border with Cleo Paskal, Advisor-GCTC & Non-Resident Fellow, F.D.D, USA as the session chair. The Sixth-panel discussion was on the New technological challenges at the borders like drone attack surveillance by enemy, use of modern technology with emphasis on the Air, space, and satellite surveillance and monitoring, and Drone and Anti Drone capabilities which was chaired by Lt Gen (Dr.) AP Singh, Former DG Corps-Army Air Defence, Indian Army.
The seventh-panel discussion was on the Strategy and Long Term Perspectives of Infrastructure Development in Border Areas which was chaired by Lt Gen Suresh Sharma, AVSM (Retd), Former Engineer In Chief & Former DG-Border Roads Organisation.
The third day began with a panel discussion on the Challenges, Strategy, and Vision of Coastal & Maritime Security which was chaired by Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, PVSM, AVSM, Former FoC-in-C, Western Naval Command & Former FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command & Former DG-Indian Coast Guard. The ninth-panel discussion was on Regulating inflow and outflow at the borders and still maintaining internal security with emphasis on the contribution and support by Bakkarwals and Gujjars for Security forces and border management with Karnal Singh, IPS(Retd), Former Director- Enforcement Directorate as the session chair. The tenth-panel discussion was on Countering internal security challenges at the borders with an emphasis on Air surveillance and monitoring, Integrated and Jointness for border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and SAARC's significance in managing the borders which was chaired by Vikram Singh, IPS(Retd), Former DGP, Uttar Pradesh.
The successful virtual event marked the presence of the prolific personalities and eminent speakers that includes The successful virtual event marked the presence of the prolific personalities and eminent speakers that includes Dr.KanwalSibal, IFS(Retd), Chairman, Advisory Board & Former Foreign Secretary,GoI; GK Pillai, IAS(Retd), Former Home Secretary, GoI; Gen DayaRatnayake, WWV, RWP, RSP, USP, Secretary, Ministry of Industries & Former Chairman-Sri Lanka Ports Authority & Former Commander, Sri Lankan Army; Lt Gen Philip Campose, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Former Vice Chief of Army Staff & Former GOC-in-C, Western Army Command, Indian Army; Lt Gen PradeepChandran Nair, AVSM, YSM, Director General, Assam Rifles; Lt Gen K.J. Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, State Information Commissioner, Government of Haryana, Former GOC-in-C, Western Army Command, Indian Army; Air Marshal Anil Chopra, DG-Centre for Air Power Studies; Maj Gen Abdur Rashid, Executive Director of Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies, Bangladesh; Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary, Director General-Border Roads; Ranjit Singh, ADG(Border Wing), CPWD; Dr. B K Das, Outstanding Scientist & Director, IRDE, DRDO and Brigadier RK Pandey, DDG PMO Suraj. Rear Admiral Dalbir Singh Gujral, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communications Space and Net-centric Operations) at Integrated Headquarters of MoD(Navy) ; Brigadier RK Pandey, DDG PMO Suraj.
Col DPK Pillay, Maj Gen AshwaniSiwach, YSM VSM** Former Head of Territorial Army; Commodore Anil Jai Singh, Navy Veteran; Lt Gen ShokinChauhan, Former Chairman-Ceasefire Monitoring Group, MHA, GoI& Former DG-Assam Rifles; PS Papta, IPS, IG, ITBP and SanjivKrishanSood, IPS, Former ADG-BSF. Dr Rakesh Datta, Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University; Dr PavithranNambiar, Senior Faculty, School of Police Science & Security Studies, NFSU. Anil Shukla, IPS, ADGP, Andaman; AvinashMohnaney, IPS(Retd), Former DGP-Sikkim & Former Special Director, Intelligence Bureau; Brigadier KapilDevMalhotra, Defence Analyst; SanjivKrishanSood, IPS, Former ADG-BSF; Prof Anshu Joshi, Assistant Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Prof.SanjoyHazarika, Director-CSRI & Managing Trustee-Centre for North East Studies and Brigadier KapilDevMalhotra, Defence Analyst.
Prof SrikantKondapalli, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof Madhav Das Nalapat, UNESCO Chair for Peace & Geopolitics Expert; Maj Gen BinojBasnyat, Defence Analyst, Nepal; Prof Mahesh RanjanDebata, Assistant Professor, Centre for Inner Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Air Commodore K.R. Thaakar, Dean, School of Police Science & Security Studies, NFSU. Ashok Sharma, IPS(Retd), Former ADG, BSF; Michael Hopmeier, President of Unconventional Concepts, Inc., Virginia, USA; Dr KevalPandya, Asst. Professor, School of Police Science & Security Studies, NFSU; Maj P V Krishnan, Research Scholar,
Vice Admiral PradeepKaushiva, UYSM, VSM (Retd), Former Commandant, National Defence College & Former Director, National Maritime Foundation; KR Nautiyal, PTM, TM, Former ADG, Indian Coast Guard and Dr Shubhamitra Das, Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies. School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Lt Gen ShokinChauhan, Former Chairman-Ceasefire Monitoring Group, MHA, GoI& Former DG-Assam Rifles; AvinashMohnaney, IPS(Retd), Former DGP-Sikkim & Former Special Director- Intelligence Bureau and B.N. Sharma, Former IG, BSF.
Brig VinodDutta, VSM, Army Veteran; Group CaptAnupam Banerjee VSM (Retd), Former Spokesperson, Indian Air Force; B.N. Sharma, Former IG, BSF; KrishanVarma, Former Special Secretary(Cab.Sectt.), GoI; Dr Nafees Ahmad, Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University and Dr PavithranNambiar, Senior Faculty, School of Police Science & Security Studies, NFSU.
The Vote of thanks was presided over by Lt Gen Suresh Sharma, AVSM (Retd), Former Engineer In Chief & Former DG-Border Roads Organization who had summarized the key takeaways from the conference.
The conference proved to be of worth and quite insightful in the details with regard to the armed forces of the country. With a lot of eminent spokespersons on the panel, GCTC and their three-day conference was a successful event and the armed personnels were able to gather a lot of knowledge from the same.
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