India Think Tank Forum 2026

Day 1

Registrations and Tea/Coffee

Welcome Remarks

Harsh V. Pant, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

D. Venkat Rao, Professor & Dean, Nalanda University, Bihar

In Conversation: 20 Years of BRICS

Samir Saran, President, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Sachin Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Moderator

Harsh V Pant, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi 

Inaugural Session | The State of the World: Mapping Power, Disorder, and Direction

The world today resembles a game in motion - multiple players, asymmetric moves, and no agreed set of rules. Power is diffused, alliances are fluid, and the boundaries between economics, technology, and geopolitics have blurred beyond recognition. This session takes stock of the major inflexion points of 2025 that cannot be ignored - from the redistribution of power and the weaponisation of technology and trade to the reordering driven by climate action, demographic shifts, and digital transformation. Is there any coherence in today’s global landscape - and what can we expect as the world moves into 2026? 

• In the ongoing consequential shifts in global power, influence, and institutions, which are structural versus cyclical? How must countries navigate these shifts? How can middle powers and emerging economies exert agency amid great power flux?
• How are economic and technological rivalries redefining alliances and dependencies across regions?
• What are the blind spots in how policymakers, markets, and analysts are interpreting today’s disruptions?

Moderator

TP Sreenivasan, Director General, Kerala International Centre, Kerala

Speakers

Pradeep Chauhan, Director General, National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi

Shristi Pukhrem, Director, Act East Centre & Visiting Fellow, India Foundation, New Delhi

Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, Associate Professor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Biren Nanda, Senior Fellow, Delhi Policy Group, New Delhi

Swati Arun, Fellow and Head of Operations, Natstrat, New Delhi

Break

Panel 1 | The AI Racecourse: Building India’s Edge in an Age of Algorithmic Power

As artificial intelligence becomes the defining axis of global power, countries are engaged in a race not just to innovate but to dominate. The United States of America, China, and the European Union are investing heavily in foundational AI models, chips, and data infrastructure that will shape the next wave of economic and geopolitical influence. The infrastructure that powers AI - from data and compute to regulatory influence is concentrated in a handful of economies and corporations, creating structural asymmetries that India must overcome to become a true AI power. India now stands at a critical juncture - home to vast data, a thriving digital economy, and deep tech talent, yet dependent on these economies and foreign corporations. This session examines how India can transition from being a “data mine” for global firms to becoming a decisive player in the global AI economy.

• What strategic advantages and vulnerabilities define India’s position in the emerging “AI wars”? 
• Which part of the AI value chain should India focus on now to gain a strategic advantage in this race, and how can India build talent pipelines and institutional capacity for this?
• What industrial and regulatory capabilities must India build to develop self-reliance in AI, but also shape global AI norms?

Moderator

Raul V Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University, Telangana

Speakers

Saroj Bishoyi, Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi

Meghna Bal, Director, Esya Centre, New Delhi

Sunanda Marak, Senior Geopolitical Analyst, Future Shift Labs, Uttar Pradesh

Gurumurthy Kasinathan, Founder and Director, IT for Change, Karnataka

Panel 2 | The Governance Gap: Internal and External Perspectives

As global governance structures weaken and international norms fragment, the pressure on national and subnational systems of governance has intensified. In India, this moment coincides with rising development aspirations, sharper Centre–state negotiations, and widening regional disparities. The Indian state today must govern amid fiscal constraints, complex federal dynamics, global economic uncertainty, and growing expectations for delivery. 

This panel examines how India positions itself in a fragile international environment and how is governance in India is being reshaped by internal and external stresses: how development priorities are formulated and implemented across states; how centre–state relations are evolving in practice rather than principle; and what India’s experience reveals about governing diversity, scale, and inequality. By placing India in comparative perspective with other federal and emerging economies, the discussion asks whether new models of state capacity, cooperative federalism, and development-led governance can emerge in an era of institutional strain, both globally and domestically.

• How are India’s governance institutions adapting to rising development demands amid fiscal pressures and uneven state capacity? What do variations across Indian states tell us about the relationship between governance quality, political incentives, and development outcomes?
• What lessons can India draw from and offer to other federal and developing countries grappling with similar governance challenges? How do comparative experiences shape thinking on decentralisation, welfare delivery, infrastructure development, and state-led growth?
• Can India craft a development-oriented governance model that reconciles national priorities with regional diversity? What institutional reforms or policy frameworks are needed to better align state capacity, local governance, and long-term development goals?

Moderator

Albert Chiang, Officer on Special Duty, Meghalaya Institute of Governance, Meghalaya

Speakers 

Srinivas Chokkakula, President and Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Chetan Singai, Professor and Dean, School of Law, Governance and Public Policy, Karnataka

R.K. Arora, Border Security Professional, Borderman, Rajasthan

Anjali Mathai, Editor, Synergia Foundation, Karnataka

Guru Prakash Paswan, Visiting Fellow, India Foundation, New Delhi

Break

Panel 3 | The Human-Machine Equation: Decoding AI’s Impact on Indian Society

AI is no longer confined to laboratories or consumer applications; it is steadily being woven into the core of India’s governance, economy, and society. From defence and dual-use technologies that redefine security to healthcare systems driven by algorithmic diagnostics and predictive analytics, to the use of AI in welfare delivery and governance systems, its integration is expanding rapidly. As current AI systems are built on narrow linguistic, cultural, and social contexts that enter critical sectors, India must prevent these embedded biases from amplifying structural inequalities. Further, the rise of AI-driven misinformation and disinformation on social media risks undermining public trust and weakening democratic discourse. As this adoption deepens, India faces a crucial policy inflexion point - designing safeguards that evolve as rapidly as AI itself, especially given its dependence on these external AI models.

• With increased AI integration using foreign models, how can India effectively address the second-order effects - social, ethical, and economic before they become systemic risks? 
• How can India safeguard democratic trust and free expression while countering misinformation and disinformation at scale?
• Are India’s current policies and laws well-positioned to address emerging risks such as generative AI, biometric misuse, and AI biases? What changes are needed to ensure effective due diligence and accountability both in the public and private sectors?

Moderator

Tanya Gupta, Policy Associate, Digital India Foundation, Uttar Pradesh

Speakers 

Sanjeev Chowdhry, Director (Editorial), United Service Institution of India, New Delhi

Tanveer Hasan, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society, Karnataka

Jyotsna Mehra, Founder, Closed-door Policy Consulting, New Delhi

Aditya Ramanathan, Research Fellow, Takshashila Institution, Karnataka

Pranshu Samdarshi, Assistant Professor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Panel 4 | The Next Energy Frontier: Scaling India’s Transition for a Net-Zero Future

India stands at the threshold of its next energy frontier. Having met key Paris Agreement targets ahead of schedule, including achieving 50% non-fossil fuel capacity by 2024 and sharply reducing emissions intensity. India’s challenge now lies not in commitment but in scaling transformation. As the world’s fastest-growing major economy and fourth-largest renewable energy market, India must now bridge the gap between installed capacity and actual generation, balance its developmental imperatives with decarbonization goals, and design systems that make clean energy both reliable and affordable. This discussion will explore how India can operationalise this next frontier through innovative financing, technology partnerships, and regulatory coherence to build an energy system, at scale, that is both resilient and equitable.

• India has overachieved many of its climate targets, but how can the focus now move beyond just capacity addition to system-wide transformation that delivers actual emissions reduction and economic competitiveness?
• What innovative financial instruments, regulatory reforms, and public–private models can help bridge India’s clean energy financing gap?
• What should India’s strategy be to leverage international finance, technology transfer, and climate diplomacy to not just meet its goals, but lead the next phase of global energy transition?

Moderator

R Srikanth, Dean, School of Science and Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Karnataka 

Speakers 

Ganesh Dileep, Chief of Staff, Centre for Energy, Environment and Water, New Delhi

Puja Mitra, Partnerships and Policy Lead, Dakshin Foundation, Karnataka

Kailash Dalabehera, Executive Director, The Energy Forum, New Delhi

Kishore Kumar Dhavala, Associate Professor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Anandajit Goswami, Senior Research Fellow, Ashoka Centre for People-centric Energy Transition, New Delhi

Break

Panel 5 | X + Y: Realising the Full Economic Potential of Indian Women

India’s female labour force participation rate has risen from ~23 percent in 2017-18 to ~42 percent in 2023-24, a remarkable turnaround driven by rural non-farm employment, self-employment, and post-pandemic necessity. Yet, beneath this progress lies a structural challenge - most women remain concentrated in informal, low-paying, and low-productivity sectors with limited security or career mobility. As India seeks to sustain high growth and demographic dividends, increasing women’s participation, particularly in formal and high-value sectors, will be critical. This discussion will examine how structural reforms, private sector initiatives, social policy and cultural shifts can together enable women to move from informal and unpaid work into the formal, productive economy, turning inclusion into growth.

• How can policy and industry shift women’s labour participation toward higher-productivity, formal-sector jobs?
• How could we redistribute the primary care-taking burden and unlock women’s economic participation? What cultural shifts and serious institutional innovations are needed on this front?
• How can India’s economic narrative and efforts move beyond inclusion as mere tokenism to inclusion as a necessity, central to India’s productivity and competitiveness?

Moderator

Priyanka Bhide, Co-founder, Kubernien Initiative, Maharashtra

Speakers

Soumya Awasthi, Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Muneer A Magry, Teaching Fellow, Nalanda University, Bihar

Aadrita Das, Assistant Professor, Centre for South East Asian Studies, Assam

Hakim Ilyas, General Secretary, Ehsaas Trust International, Jammu & Kashmir

Panel 6 | Future Force: Shaping India’s 21st-Century Defence Posture

As India accelerates defence modernisation, it faces the twin challenge of achieving technological self-reliance while adapting to an era defined by hybrid and multi-domain warfare. Despite the push for indigenisation under Atmanirbhar Bharat and record defence production, critical dependencies still persist. Simultaneously, the nature of warfare itself is shifting from AI-enabled command systems and autonomous drones to cyber, space, and information operations. Within this evolving threat landscape, India’s expanding defence cooperation through the minilateral, trilateral and bilateral ties must balance deterrence and diplomacy. This session will explore how India can sustain the momentum of modernisation, deepen strategic partnerships, and build a resilient, self-reliant military ecosystem fit for the realities of 21st-century warfare.

• How can we ensure that India’s defence sector moves toward genuine indigenous innovation, self-reliance, and global competitiveness?
• How can India deepen defence cooperation with major partners without compromising strategic autonomy or becoming entangled in competing security blocs?
• What would a truly future-ready Indian defence ecosystem look like by 2030 - technologically advanced and diplomatically agile? What institutional reforms are needed to get there?

Moderator

M. Matheswaran, Founder President, Peninsula Foundation, Tamil Nadu

Speakers 

Anil Golani, Director General, Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies, New Delhi

Ruhee Neog, Security and Foreign Policy Analyst, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi

RPS Bhadauria, Additional Director General, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi

Nitin Gokhale, Founder, Bharat Shakti, New Delhi

Executive timing

Networking Dinner

Day 2

Registrations

Panel 7 | Trade Wars and Tightropes: What Must India Do?

In 2025, India’s export engine faced its toughest stress test yet. The US decision to impose 50 percent tariffs on key Indian exports has triggered economic shockwaves, strained bilateral ties, and revived debates on self-reliance and strategic autonomy. As India recalibrates, balancing diplomacy, WTO engagement, and domestic manufacturing, the episode exposes deeper questions about economic resilience and the future of India’s trade in a fragmenting global order. This session will explore what it will take to turn this moment of pressure into an opportunity to shape a new trade strategy for 2026 and beyond.

• How deep is the real impact of the US tariffs on India’s export competitiveness, and what structural shifts are needed to build trade resilience?
• How can India engage the US through negotiation while simultaneously strengthening alternative trade and investment corridors with BRICS, ASEAN, and the Global South?
• With trade wars increasingly used as tools of foreign policy, what balance should India strike between economic pragmatism and geopolitical signalling?

Moderator

Laveesh Bhandari, President and Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress, New Delhi

Speakers

Sriparna Pathak, Associate Fellow, Motwani Jadeja Institute for American Studies, Haryana

Sankalp Gurjar, Assistant Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Maharashtra

Pritam Banerjee, Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, New Delhi

Shreya Upadhyay, Non-Resident Fellow, Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific, Odisha

Panel 8 | Ideas & Ideals: Balancing Creativity, Competition, and Collaboration

Organisations in the policy and development ecosystem are usually built for stability, rather than adaptability. Yet the world we operate in is volatile, fast-changing, and increasingly complex. Think tanks must strike a balance between collaboration and competition, both within their own organisations and across the broader ecosystem. While healthy competition drives innovation and visibility, collaboration fosters collective influence and optimises resources. Real value lies in creating intellectual spaces with the right incentives and rewards that encourage collaboration internally, while also identifying ‘collective gains’ that motivate organisations to work together rather than in silos. This session brings together thought leaders and experts from diverse think tanks to reflect on why this balance matters and the possible pathways to achieving it.

• How can organisations be designed as evolving systems in a rapidly changing world - capable of self-correction and reinvention without losing their core mission or identity? 
• What institutional features (governance, leadership, incentives and culture) help turn organisations into ‘idea labs’ for fresh ideas and new approaches to flourish and present new avenues of collaboration?
• Where do the ‘collective gains’ lie in the think tank ecosystem? How can organisations find synergies and collaborate beyond traditional cross-collaboration models for meaningful impact?

Moderator

D. Dhanuraj, Founder-Chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research, Kerala

Speakers

Debajit Palit, Head, Centre for Climate Change and Energy Transition, Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi

Seshadri Vasan, Director, Chennai Centre for China Studies; Regional Director, National Maritime Foundation, Tamil Nadu

Stuti Banerjee, Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi

Ro Chamliana, Member Secretary, Mizoram Institute of Advanced Studies, Mizoram

Closing Remarks

Sachin Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Harsh V. Pant, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Closing Lunch