Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 10: The Department of Strategic and Regional Studies (DSRS), University of Jammu, hosted an International Conference on “PoJK – An Integral Part of India as a Geo-strategic Pivot in South Asia,” here today.
Prof Neelu Rohmetra, Dean Research Studies, University of Jammu, was chief guest on the occasion while Ashutosh Bhatnagar, President of JKSC was the guest of honour and Colonel (Retd.) Ajay Raina was the keynote speaker. Prof Virender Koundal, Director DSRS, introduced theme of the conference.
Col Ajay Raina (Retd) stressed that the territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation remain central not only to India’s territorial integrity but also to the changing geostrategic landscape of South Asia. He called for a renewed national commitment to correcting past mistakes and creating a forward-looking plan based on diplomatic clarity, military readiness, and political consensus.
Ashutosh Bhatnagar provided an insightful perspective on the necessity of “course correction” in national policy. He highlighted that reclaiming POJK is not merely a cartographic issue but a humanitarian and civilizational one.
Prof Neelu Rohmetra underlined the role of academic institutions in shaping informed national narratives, encouraging evidence-based research, and nurturing a sense of belongingness towards the occupied territories. She further stated that research on PoJK must be infused not only with academic rigour but also with national responsibility, as the region holds significant implications for India’s identity, unity and long-term strategic standing.
After the inaugural session, another major session was chaired by Ashutosh Bhatnagar. In this session, four POJK researchers and activists living in exile, made online presentations. Senge Hasnain Sering of Institute for Gilgit-Baltistan Studies joined online from USA, ?Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza joined online from UK, Surinder Zutshi joined online from USA, and Tanveer Ahmed joined online from Muzaffarabad. They spoke on Pakistan’s mechanized exploitation of POJK and why POJK must get support from India for their genuine issues.
Thereupon, Pradeep Dutta of NDTV spoke on how Pakistan has made POJK a theatre for Jihad in J&K. Brig (Retd.) Brijeh Pandey spoke on POJK from the context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The session concluded with Dr Ajay Sharma’s presentation who spoke on the inclusion and exclusion of displaced persons of PoJK.
The valedictory session was presided over by Prof J P Singh Joorel, Dean Academic Affairs, JU and keynote speaker of this session was Brig (Retd ) Pankaj Chib.
Both the sessions were anchored by Dr Mohd Monir Alam and the vote of thanks was delivered by Dr Surinder Mohan. The conference was graced by Maj Gen Goverdhan Singh Jamwal, Col Virendra Sahai, Padamashree Prof K N Pandita, Prof Satinder Kumar, Prof Suman Jamwal, Prof Prakash Anthal, Prof Dipankar Sengupta, Prof Vinay Chauhan, Prof Anil Gupta, Prof Jeevan Jyoti, Prof Tarsem Lal, Dr Ganesh Malhotra, Dr Ranjan Sharma, Dr Sunil Sharma and others.
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