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Dear Council Member,
1. I am pleased to invite you to the 4th Indian Military Heritage Festival – 2026, scheduled for 30–31 October 2026 at the USI premises, New Delhi.
2. The festival will bring together senior military leadership, distinguished historians, authors, veterans and scholars to deliberate on India’s military heritage, operational experiences and the path ahead.
3. Key highlights include:
- Inaugural Session with Special Address by Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar (Retd), Hon’ble Governor of Bihar
- Special Session on the Military History of the Garhwal Rifles featuring the Hon’ble Governor of Bihar and the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS)
- Address by the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) at the Future Ready Navy session
- Fireside Chat with the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) on “The Indian Army and Nation-Building”
- Closing Address by the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS)
3. Your presence as a valued Council Member would greatly enrich the proceedings.
4. Evening Reception and Dinner
An exclusive Evening Reception and Dinner (by invitation) will be held on 30 October 2026 from 1930–2130 hrs at the USI Lawns. A separate dinner invitation is enclosed for your kind consideration.
5. Kindly confirm your availability by submitting your RSVP through the link provided below ………………………………………………, to facilitate the necessary administrative arrangements by 20 October 2026.
We look forward to the pleasure of your company.
With warm regards,
V Adm Sanjay Jasjit Singh, SYSM, PVSM, AVSM, NM, PhD (Retd)
Director General
United Service Institution of India
Rao Tula Ram Marg, Vasant Vihar
New Delhi-110057
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INDIAN MILITARY HERITAGE FESTIVAL - 2026
Day 1- 30 Oct 2026
| S.No |
Time (hrs) |
|
| 1.1 |
0900-0940 |
Registration |
| 1.2 |
0945-0955 |
Exhibition Inauguration by Chief Guest |
| 1.3 |
1000-1035 |
Inaugural Session
1005-1010 hrs: National Song & National Anthem
1010-1015 hrs: Welcome Address by V Adm Sanjay Jasjit Singh, SYSM, PVSM, AVSM, NM, PhD (Retd), DG, USI
1015-1035 hrs: Special Address by Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar (Retd), Hon'ble Governor of Bihar
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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 |
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Garhwal Rifles – Role & Contributions
Lt Gen Mohan Bhandari, PVSM, AVSM*, PhD (Retd)
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)
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Sappers: Sieges and Frontlines Across Centuries of Combat
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)
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| 1.7 |
1250-1330 |
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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
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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)
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| 1.8 |
1335-1430 |
LUNCH BREAK |
| 1.9 |
1435-1520 |
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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
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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)
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| 1.10 |
1525-1625 |
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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)
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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)
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| 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
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| 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)
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Evening Reception and Dinner (by Invitation only) from 1930 – 2130h at USI Lawns
INDIAN MILITARY HERITAGE FESTIVAL - 2026
Day 2- 31 Oct 2026
| S.No. |
TIME (hrs) |
| AUDITORIUM |
SEMINAR HALL 1 |
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| 2.1 |
0915-0940 |
Registration |
| 2.2 |
0945-1030 |
Future Ready Navy
Welcome Address by DG USI
Address by the Chief of the Naval Staff
| Book Release: |
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 |
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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)
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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)
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| 2.6 |
1305 – 1355 |
Lunch Break |
| 2.7 |
1400 - 1445 |
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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)
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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
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| 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)
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| 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
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| 2.13 |
1820 - 1830 |
Vote Of Thanks
by Sqn Ldr RTS Chhina, Director CMHCS
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| 2.14 |
1835 |
National Song & National Anthem |
Updated Prog. as of 14 Oct 26
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