Events Categories
CETANB Centre for Emerging Technology and Atma Nirbhar Bharat
CMHCS Centre for Military History and Conflict Studies
CP&L Centre for Publications & Library
CPME Centre for Professional Military Education
CS3 Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation
CUNHS Centre for United Nations and Humanitarian Studies
4th Edition 2026 Indian Military Heritage Festival
(Estd. 1870)
INDIAN MILITARY HERITAGE FESTIVAL - 2026
| S.No | Time (hrs) | Auditorium | Seminar 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | 0900-0940 | REGISTRATION | |
| 1.2 | 0945-0955 | Exhibition Inauguration by Chief Guest | |
| 1.3 | 1000-1035 |
INAUGURAL SESSION
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| 1.4 | 1040-1135 |
SPECIAL SESSION: MILITARY HISTORY OF GARHWAL RIFLES
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar (Retd), Hon'ble Governor of Bihar Gen NS Raja Subramani, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, Chief of the Defence Staff Lt Gen Dinesh Rana, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, PhD; Colonel of the Regiment Garhwal Rifles Moderator: Maj Gen Gajinder Singh Chandel, AVSM, PhD (Retd) |
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| 1.5 | 1140-1155 | TEA BREAK | |
| 1.6 | 1200-1245 |
SAPPERS: SIEGES AND FRONTLINES ACROSS CENTURIES OF COMBAT
Lt Gen Mohan Bhandari, PVSM, AVSM*, PhD (Retd) Lt Gen Vikas Rohella, AVSM, SM** (E-in-C) Col Ashwin Baindur (Retd) Col Christopher John Rego (Retd) Moderator: Maj Gen Pawan Anand, AVSM (Retd) |
GARHWAL RIFLES - ROLE & CONTRIBUTIONS
Maj Gen Arjun Muthanna, SM - The Garhwalis in Op Pawan (Sri Lanka) IPKF (Sabre and Quill, 2025) Devesh Joshi - Garhwal Aur Pratham Vishwayudh, (Winsar Publishing Co., 2024) Moderator: Col Sunil Kotnala (Retd) |
| 1.7 | 1250-1330 |
OP SAFED SAGAR
Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM (Retd) Alka Ahuja Kushal Srivastav Antara Srivastav Moderator: Sqn Ldr Rana TS Chhina, MBE - Director, CMHCS |
RE-EXAMINING INDIA'S MILITARY HISTORY: WARS OF THE INDIAN ARMY IN RETROSPECT 1947-1999
Col Mandeep Singh (Retd) - The Indian Army at War 1947-99 (Osprey Publications, 2025) Lt Col Kulvinder Singh (Retd) - Guns of Longewala: The Untold Story of Indo-Pak War of 1971 (Sabre and Quill, 2023) Moderator: Maj Gen Jagatbir Singh, VSM (Retd) |
| 1.8 | 1335-1430 | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 1.9 | 1435-1520 |
WAR MEMOIRS & MEMORIES
Vishal Batra - Yeh Dil Maange More: Remembering Captain Vikram Batra, My Brother (Penguin Veer, 2026) Col Kaushal Kashyap, SC - Only Fools Fight Fair (Monks & Warriors, 2026) Moderator: Sandeep Unnithan |
SHARED LEGACIES: THE BRITISH INDIAN MILITARY HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP
Dr Tejpal Ralmill (Community Historian) Dr Peter Johnston (IWM) Dr George Hay (CWGC) Moderator: Prof Gavin Rand (University of Greenwich) |
| 1.10 | 1525-1625 |
THE SILENT SENTINELS: LOVE, LOSS AND RESILIENCE BEYOND THE UNIFORM
Ambreen Zaidi - The Silent Warrior: Damayanti V. Tambay - Arjun Awardee... (Prabhat Prakashan, 2025) Meghna Girish - Finding New Meaning: A Mother's Journey After an Unspeakable Loss (Sabre and Quill, 2025) Geetika Lidder - I Am a Soldier's Wife: The Life and Love of Toni Lidder (Roli Books, 2025) Moderator: Aditi Prasad (Times Now) |
DOCTORS AT WAR: TESTIMONY, DUTY, AND THE ETHICS OF MILITARY MEDICINE
Lt Gen Balakrishnan Jayan My Pak Diary: 16 April-16 August 2025 (Op Sindoor) (Sabre and Quill, 2025). Commandant's Diary: Care During COVID Pandemic - A Military Dental Hospital (Sabre and Quill, 2024). Col Arup Ratan Basu, PhD (Retd) - The Kargil War Surgeon's Testimony (Bloomsbury India, 2025). Moderator: Surg V Adm Arti Sarin, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) |
| 1.11 | 1630-1655 | TEA BREAK | |
| 1.12 | 1700-1730 | INDIA AND WORLD WAR II: RESHAPING OF THE WORLD ORDER A Talk by Shri MJ Akbar, Former Minister of State for External Affairs | |
| 1.13 | 1735-1800 | FIRESIDE CHAT: THE INDIAN ARMY AND NATION-BUILDING: LEGACY, VALUES AND CONTINUITY Lt Gen Sandeep Jain, AVSM, SM, Vice Chief of the Army Staff in conversation with Lt Gen Rakesh Kapoor, AVSM, VSM (Retd) | |
| Evening Reception and Networking Dinner (by Invitation only) from 1930-2130h at USI Lawns | |||
(Estd. 1870)
INDIAN MILITARY HERITAGE FESTIVAL - 2026
| S.No. | TIME (hrs) | AUDITORIUM | SEMINAR HALL 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 0915-0940 | REGISTRATION | |
| 2.2 | 0945-1030 |
FUTURE READY NAVY
Welcome Address by DG USI
Book Release:Address by the Chief of the Naval Staff Capt NS Mohan Ram, VSM (Retd) - A Builder's Navy: The Long Road to Self-sufficiency in Warship Design (Sabre & Quill, 2026) Cmde Pramod R Kulkarni, PhD (Retd) - Warship Design and its Management: A Systems Engineering Perspective, Routledge, 2026. Somi Tandon - My Journey to the South Block and Beyond (Life Story of a Smalltown Girl Who Broke the Glass Ceiling...), Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2026. |
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| 2.3 | 1035-1050 | TEA BREAK | |
| 2.4 | 1055-1210 |
INDIAN NAVY'S INDIGENISATION JOURNEY - PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
V Adm B Sivakumar, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Materiel - On and Over the Horizon R Adm Sujit Baxi, DG, Warship Design Bureau - Indigenous Warship Design Contours, Changes & Challenges Cmde AP Golaya, VSM, PhD - Significance of IDEX SPRINT and the Rise of MSME Defence Startups Capt NS Mohan Ram, VSM (Retd) Cmde Pramod R Kulkarni, PhD (Retd) - Warship Design and its Management: A Systems Engineering Perspective, Routledge, 2026. Moderator: Cmde Srikant B Kesnur, VSM, PhD (Retd) |
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| 2.5 | 1215-1300 |
1946-1971: UPRISING TO RISEN
Vice Adm Anup Singh, PVSM, AVSM, NM (Retd) Cdr Vipin Sharma (Retd) Swaroop Anand Sandeep Unnithan Moderator: Cmde Srikant Kesnur, VSM, PhD (Retd) |
PORTS, POWER, AND THE LONG HISTORY OF INDIAN MARITIME AMBITION
Cmde Abhay Singh (Retd) - The Making of India's Seapower Cdr Kalesh Mohanan - Anchored in Legacy, Steered by Innovation: 75 Glorious Years of the Indian Navy (Routledge, 2026) Suraj Palavalsa - Operationalising Project Mausam: Building India's Maritime Consciousness & Regional Leadership (NMF, 2025) Moderator: Capt (IN) Sarbjeet S Parmar (Retd) |
| 2.6 | 1305-1355 | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 2.7 | 1400-1445 |
THE INDIAN AIR FORCE ACROSS A CENTURY OF AIR POWER
Anchit Gupta - RAF India to Vayu Bhawan - India's Air Headquarters over the last century (White Falcon Publishing, 2024) Mayank Zade - Second to One: Diamond Lessons from the 1965 Air War (Sabre & Quill, Nov 2025) Vishnu Som - THE SKY WARRIORS: Operation Sindoor Unveiled (Juggernaut, 2026) Moderator: Air Mshl AK Bharti, SYSM, AVSM, VM (Retd) |
MILITARY HISTORIES OF INDIA: FROM PRINCELY STATES TO NATION-BUILDING
Lt Gen G S Katoch, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) - A Kashmir knight and the last 50 years of the princely state of J&K (Sabre & Quill, 2025). Sarabjit Singh - A Century in Stirrups: Three generation of Indian Cavalry Men (Sabre & Quill, 2026). Col DPK Pillay, SC (Retd) - India at War: Empires, Battles and the Making of a Nation (Penguin Random House India, 2026). Moderator: Col Mandeep Singh |
| 2.8 | 1450-1535 | THE INDIAN AIR FORCE AND THE NEW FRONTIER OF SPACE Gp Capt Shubhanshu Shukla, AC - The Second Orbit: Belief of a Man...Dream of 1.4 Billion Hearts (Vintage Books, 2026) Moderator: Air Mshl Rajeev Sachdeva, AVSM, PhD (Retd) | |
| 2.9 | 1540-1630 |
JOINT SESSION: 25 YEARS OF INSTITUTIONALISING JOINTMANSHIP - HQ IDS AND THE ANDAMAN & NICOBAR COMMAND (ANC): ROAD COVERED AND THE WAY AHEAD
Air Mshl BR Krishna, PVSM, AVSM, SC (Retd) - (Former CISC) V Adm AK Singh, PVSM, AVSM, NM (Retd) - (Former CINCAN) Lt Gen Rajeshwar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) - (Former CISC & CINCAN) Moderator: Lt Gen Ajai Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd) |
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| 2.10 | 1635-1655 | TEA BREAK | |
| 2.11 | 1700-1745 |
WOMEN OFFICERS - TACKING AHEAD, BREAKING BARRIERS
Conversation with women officers of all three Services, who participated in India's global sailing expedition, named Samudra Pradakshina and Navika Sagar Parikrama Lt Col Anuja Varudkar Lt Cdr Dilna K Wg Cdr Vibha Singh Moderator: Barkha Dutt |
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| 2.12 | 1750-1815 | CLOSING ADDRESS General N.S. Raja Subramani, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM - Chief of the Defence Staff | |
| 2.13 | 1820-1830 | VOTE OF THANKS by Sqn Ldr RTS Chhina, Director CMHCS | |
| 2.14 | 1835 | NATIONAL SONG & NATIONAL ANTHEM | |