Date : 29 Nov, 2019     Time : 1530-1700 hrs

On 29 November 2019, IPCS hosted Mr. Tilak Devasher, Member, National Security Advisory Board, and Consultant, Vivekananda International Foundation, for a discussion on his latest book, 'Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum'. The discussion was chaired by Mr. Rana Banerji, Member, IPCS Governing Council, and former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and took place from 1530-1700 hrs in the IPCS Conference Room.

1530-1535 hrs
Opening Remarks by the Chair | Rana Banerji
Member, IPCS Governing Council, and former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India

1535-1600 hrs
Book Reading & Presentation | Tilak Devasher
Author, 'Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum’; Member, National Security Advisory Board, and Consultant, Vivekananda International Foundation

1600-1630 hrs
Panellist Discussion | Rana Banerji & Tilak Devasher

1630-1655 hrs
Q&A

1655-1700 hrs
Concluding Remarks by the Chair

1700 hrs
Tea

***

SPEAKERS

Rana Banerji is Member, Governing Council, IPCS. He joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1972. Subsequently he served as a senior bureaucrat in the Central Government for 28 years, retiring as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, in 2009. During his service years he dealt with security and intelligence-related issues impinging on National Security Policy formulation, with focused expertise on the South Asian region. He is a member of the Indian Council of World Affairs’ Core Group on Pakistan.

Tilak Devasher is Member, National Security Advisory Board, Government of India, and Consultant, Vivekananda International Foundation. He retired in October 2014 as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. During his professional career he specialised in security issues, especially pertaining to India’s neighbourhood. In addition to his postings in India, he has served in assignments in Indian missions in Islamabad, San Francisco, Yangon and London. He is also the author of Pakistan: Courting The Abyss, which was published in December 2016, and Pakistan: At the Helm, which was published in June 2018.

An Overview of 'Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum' 

By
Tilak Devasher
HarperCollins (July 2019)

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, is a complex region fraught with conflict and hostility, ranging from an enduring insurgency and sectarian violence to terror strikes and appalling human rights violations. Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum traces the roots of the deep-seated Baloch alienation to the princely state of Kalat’s forced accession to Pakistan in 1948, an alienation which has been further solidified by the state’s rampant exploitation of the province, leading to massive socio-economic deprivation. Is the Baloch insurgency threatening the integrity of Pakistan? What is the likelihood of an independent Balochistan? Has the situation in the province become irretrievable for Pakistan? Is there a meeting ground between the mutually opposing narratives of the Pakistan state and the Baloch nationalists? In his third book on Pakistan, Tilak Devasher analyses why Balochistan is such a festering sore for Pakistan.