Jointly organised by MAKAIAS & IDSA
Venue: Room # 005, Ground Floor, IDSA

Programme

10:30 – 11:00 A.M Arrival of Guests
Tea/Coffee

11:00 – 11:05 A.M.
Welcome Address by Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director – General, IDSA, New Delhi

11:05 – 11:10 A.M.
Welcome Address by Dr. Sreeradha Datta, Director, MAKAIAS, Kolkata

11:10 A.M – 12:40 P.M. Session
Chairperson: Ambassador Satish Chandra (retd.)
(Former Deputy National Security Advisor)

Key Speakers:

1. Mr. Shamlal Bathija, AFGHANISTAN
   Senior Advisor for Economic Affairs to the President of the Islamic Republic
   of Afghanistan, Kabul
2. Mr. B. Raman, INDIA
   Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai
3. Dr. Maqsudul Hasan Nuri, PAKISTAN
   Acting President & Senior Research Fellow, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad
4. Mr. R. Banerji, INDIA
   Senior Political Analyst
5. Prof. Bahram Amirahmadian, IRAN
   Faculty of World Studies, Tehran University, Tehran
6. Dr. Zubair Popalzai, AFGHAN
   BBC Monitoring, London, United Kingdom
7. Prof. Vladimir Boyko, RUSSIA
   Altai State Pedagogical Academy, Barnaul
8. Mr. Vishal Chandra, INDIA
   Associate Fellow, IDSA, New Delhi

12:40 – 01:20 P.M. Discussions

01:20 – 01:30 P.M. Chairperson’s concluding remarks

01.30 – 02:30 P.M. Lunch

Concept Note

With the killing of Osama Bin Laden by the US Navy Seals on May 2, 2011 in Pakistani Garrison city of Abbottabad, the war on Terror has entered into a new phase. Contrary to the imagination, instead of decreasing, incidents of Jihadi terrorism are on the rise indicating spread of terror network. Numerous lesser known outfits have gained in strength and are zealously engaged in furthering the terror agenda. While the US is struggling to make Afghanistan out of bounds for al-Qaeda and its associates, the Pakistani state sees her national interest being served by these very terror outfits and thus willingly impedes the US efforts. It is about time to realise that selective approach to deal with the issue of terrorism is bound to fail as groups with terror agenda are complementing each other much better than states launching a campaign against them. It is often argued that the role of states like Pakistan under the pressure of domestic contradictions is proving to be the main stumbling block in winning the war on terror. Under these circumstances, ‘war on terror’ cannot be treated as a specific war against al-Qaeda and its associates like the Taliban.

The understanding of the issue of terror needs to be broadened to discover the linkages that exist among all the terror outfits with various agenda. The first step towards victory against terror can be taken by making the divide between States and non-state actors with terror agenda clear. Most states allied with the US in the war on terror realises that unless the international community takes a united and tough stand against terrorism in all its aspects, the ‘War on Terror’ will, sooner than later, turn into a full-scale war between State and Non-state actors. But given the ground realities of the situation and the challenges facing the international community in dealing with these realities, the right course of action is always debatable.

The Symposium proposes to address certain specific issues:

• Is the War on Terror being fought in the proper way by the international community?
• Is reconciliation with Taliban unifying or dividing the Afghan nation?
• What is the impact of the civil-military divide in Pakistan?
• How will the US- Pak relations affect the war?
• What can be the likely scenarios in the post-2014 period?
• What are the perceptions of the countries in the region on the issue of the war on terror?