Mr.G K Pillai

Gopal Krishna Pillai is an Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S) officer and the former Home Secretary in the Government of India. He studied at Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, and later obtained an M.Sc from IIT, Madras. He belongs to the Kerala cadre of the 1972 batch of I.A.S.

G.K. Pillai held diverse positions in the state government of Kerala such as:

- District Collector of Kollam from 1982 to 1985

- Special Secretary for Industries, especially the traditional industries of cashew, coir and handlooms

- Secretary of Health

- Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala.

ACM Arup Raha

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

Brig. N.S. Mukherjee(Retd.)

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.

Mr. Gautam Mukhopadhaya

Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya joined the Centre for Policy Research as a Senior Visiting Fellow in June 2019 after a career in the Indian Foreign Service during which he served in various capacities in Indian Embassies and Missions in Mexico, Cuba, France, and the United Nations; the Ministry of Defence of India (2002-05); and eventually as India’s Ambassador to Syria (2006-08), Afghanistan (2010-13) and Myanmar (2013-16). He also re-opened the Indian Embassy in Kabul in November 2001 as Charge d’Affaires after the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan in November 2001. Ambassador Mukhopadhaya’s current areas of interest at the Centre include Afghanistan and Myanmar, India’s Act East policy, and regional cooperation involving South and South East Asia with a focus on the North East of India on which he hopes to stimulate some policy work at the Centre. His other current affiliations include an association with the NITI Aayog’s ‘NITI Forum for the North East’ as an Advisor, and Chair of a CII Task Force on economic ties with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries). Mukhopadhaya’s diplomatic career has been notable for the range of his professional experience covering media, culture, human rights, development, defence and security issues. He graduated from Delhi University with a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Masters in Sociology. He is an alumni of the National Defence College of India (2001) and has also worked at the UN Headquarters in New York as a Consultant on Social Development (September 1999-August 2000) and as a Visiting Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, (October 2009-March 2010). He also handled the Festival of India in France (1985-86). His extra-curricular interests include Indian and world music, and travel, with a special interest in the North East of India and South East Asia.nt.

Mr Jayanta Choudhuri

Jayanto Narayan Choudhury retired as DG National Security Guard in 2015 after 37 years in the Indian Police Service. He was earlier DGP of Assam. prior to this, he served for over 25 years in the Intelligence Bureau, mainly in North-East India and Bengal. While on deputation to MEA, he has served in the Embassy of India, Washington DC. He has trained with the British Security Service and the FBI. His articles include publications in the USI’s Strategic Yearbook, the 'Police Chief' journal of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Indian Police Journal. He has spoken widely on different forums, on policing and security, including on the Brains Trust programme supported by the British Council. Post retirement he was an Independent Director with GAIL and Vice-President Public Health Foundation of India.

Lt Gen J R Mukherjee

LT GEN JOHN RANJAN MUKHERJEE, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (RETD) 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.

Lt Gen K H Himalay Singh

Lieutenant General Dr. Konsam Himalay Singh PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM is a former Lieutenant General of the Indian Army. He is the first officer from northeast India to reach the rank of Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and the first military officer from Manipur to reach the ranks of Brigadier and Major General.He was the Chairman of Manipur Public Service Commission and is currently a member of the Consultative Committee of Manipur Government on Naga Peace Talks as well as a visiting faculty member of Manipur University.

Mr Subir Bhaumik

Subir Bhaumik is the East India Correspondent of the BBC World Service for the last 15 years. He has reported on North East India and the countries around it for three decades since his previous assignments with Press Trust of India, Ananda Bazar Patrika and Reuters News Agency. As a journalist he has broken some of the biggest stories in North East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Himalayan countries of Nepal and Bhutan. He was Queen Elizabeth House Fellow in Oxford University (1989–90), during which he completed his first book Insurgent Crossfire (published by Lancers in 1996). He has been a Fellow at Frankfurt University and done projects with prestigious institutions like the East-West Center, Washington. He has presented nearly 40 papers in seminars at home and abroad and written more than 25 articles for volumes edited by leading scholars (some published by SAGE India) like Partha Chatterjee, Ranabir Sammadar, Robert Wirshing, Sanjib Baruah, Samir Das and Jaideep Saikia. He is also a popular TV anchor, a corporate risk analyst and a media trainer. He is the Working President of the Guwahati-based North East Policy Alternatives and a Founder-member of the independent think tank, the Calcutta Research Group.

Mr Samir Purkayastha

Samir K Purkayastha is a senior journalist currently working as an associate editor with thefederal.com. He has extensively covered insurgency, ethnic conflicts and evolving politics of Northeast for leading newspapers including the Telegraph and the Asian Age for decades. He also worked in the New Delhi newsroom of the Hindustan Times as an assistant editor. He has also to his credit a number of research papers on issues pertaining to the northeast published in collective volumes by leading publishing houses like the Oxford University Press, Frontpage, Routledge India among others.

AMD. Lalduhthlana Ralte

Amb. Lalduhthlana Ralte is a retired officer of 1983 Foreign Service Batch. He has been Ambassador of Philippines & Burnei and is presently settled in Mizoram. Amb. Ralte is a keen observer of events in North Eastern States of India as also of the Indian Government Looks East Policy. He is widely travelled and is frequently called upon to speak on various issues related to north eastern states as also the Indian Government foreign policy initiatives which has a bearing on north eastern states, politics, economic development and social issues.

Mr. Panchuau Lawnkunga

"Pachuau (PC) Lawmkunga is an IAS Officer of 1979 batch. He belonged to the Manipur-Tripura Cadre. A Mizo Christian from Muathuam Village of Mizoram , he has wide and deep experience and knowledge of the State of Manipur having worked from Block Development Officer upwards to becoming the Chief Secretary of the State in 2013. An inspiring and respected ex bureaucrat belonging to the North Eastern diaspora , he understands the pulse of the people of Manipur and neighbouring states like very few of his peers, colleagues and active intellectual community of Manipur. Amongst his stints on deputation to the Central Government, he has also been Principal Secretary-PHED! Rural Development & Panchayati Raj & OBC as also Election and Chief Electoral Officer from 2004 to 2009. He has also been an Observer in Myanmar at the Parliamentary by -elections in 2012. Still very active and a social activist, he is a sane and respected voice of the people of the North Eastern States Diaspora.”