NIICE to host Nepal–India think tank forum on “Regional Resilience: Strengthening Nepal-India Security Cooperation”
Kathmandu. Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) to celebrate its 10th Anniversary is organizing the Nepal–India Think Tank Forum 2026, themed “Regional Resilience: Strengthening Nepal–India Security Cooperation,” will be held on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, at the Kathmandu Marriott Hotel.
The day-long forum will feature three focused sessions that will examine the convergence, continuity, and future trajectory of Nepal–India security cooperation; address transnational threats, connectivity, and economic security challenges shaping bilateral relations and explore the role of think tanks, youth, and media in building resilient Nepal–India relations.
Distinguished speakers from India include Ambassador Pankaj Saran, former Deputy National Security Advisor of Indian Prime Minister Modi who is heading a think tank called NatStrat; Former Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh (Retd.), Director General of the United Service Institution of India, that is the oldest security think tank of India; Capt. Dr. Alok Bansal, Executive Vice President of India Foundation which closely works with the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party; Prof. Sangeeta Thapliyal of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Dr. Gaurav Saini, Co-Founder of Council for Strategic and Defence Research. From Nepal, the participants are Anurag Acharya, Director at Policy Entrepreneurs Inc., Dr. Angana Guha Roy, Associate Director at Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs; Maj. Gen. Binoj Basnyat (Retd.), political and security analyst; and senior journalists Sanjeev Satgainya, Bibek Dhoj Thapa, Research Associate and Program Coordinator at NIICE and several others.
Sumitra Karki, Director of NIICE shared that “At a time when our region is facing new and complex challenges, Nepal and India must work closely together to address shared concerns. Platforms like this create valuable space for dialogue, enabling experts and policymakers from both sides to sit together, exchange ideas, and jointly explore practical solutions to common challenges.”
NIICE is a leading think tank of Nepal that works on foreign policy, security and issues of development and it has partnered with number of Indian think tanks of India in the past.