CONSORTIUM OF SOUTH ASIAN THINK TANKS Realizing the Vision of a South Asian Union organized by Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS) in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza, Kathmandu July 14, 2014 (Mon.) Arrival of Delegates (All Day) 19:00 hrs. Welcome Dinner at Malhar Hall, Hotel Soaltee. Guest of Honour Amb. Shankar Bairagi, Foreign Secretary, Government of Nepal. July 15, 2014 (Tue.) Inaugural Session (Malhar hall) 9:00 hrs. Registration 9:30 hrs. Welcome Address by Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey, Director, CSAS 9:45 hrs. Inauguration by Chief Guest Hon ble Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nepal Government 9:50 hrs. Address by Maj. Gen. (retd.) Dipankar Banerjee, Mentor, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi 1
10:05 hrs. Address by Eminent Industrialist Mr. Binod Kumar Chaudhary, President and Managing Director, Chaudhary Group, Kathmandu 10:20 hrs. Keynote Address by H.E. Ong Keng Yong, former Secretary General, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Singapore s Ambassador to Malaysia 10:40 hrs. Address by the Chair H.E. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Secretary General, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) 10:55 hrs. Address by Chief Guest Hon ble Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Minister for Foreign Affairs 11:10 hrs. Vote of Thanks by Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister, Regional Programme- Political Dialogue Asia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung 11:20 hrs. Tea/Coffee (Departure of the Chief Guest) First Session 11:45 hrs. Human Security in South Asia: Vision 2025 by Maj. Gen. (retd.) ANM Muniruzzaman, President, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), Dhaka 12:00 hrs. Address by Amb. (retd.) Nihal Rodrigo, former SAARC Secretary General, Colombo 12:15 noon South Asian Union: A Dream or a Reality by Amb. (retd.) Sohail Amin, President, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad 12:30 noon Resurrecting South Asia s Ties of history and Culture: Need for institution Building by Amb. (retd.) I.P. Khosla, India s former ambassador to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and The Netherlands. Member, Executive Committee, IPCS, New Delhi 12:45 noon Floor Discussions 13:20 hrs. Response by Presenters (5 mins. each) 13:40 hrs. Lunch 2
Second Session 14:30 hrs. Address by Maj. Gen. SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), Dhaka 14:45 hrs. Challenges and Prospects of SAARC by Amb. (retd.) Ahmed Saleem, former Secretary General, SAARC, Male 15:20 hrs. Address by Mr. Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Executive Director, Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, Colombo 15:35 hrs. Floor Discussions 16:05 hrs. Response by Presenters (5 mins. each) 16:25 hrs. End of Day One 18:30 hrs. Depart Hotel for Hotel Dwarika s, Battisputali 19:00 hrs. Nepali Traditional Dinner (for foreign delegates only) July 16, 2014 (Wed.) Third Session (Madhavi Hall) 10:00 hrs. Economic Integration Processes in South and Southeast Asia: Some Comparisons and Insights by Ms. L. Savithri, Director, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Kathmandu 10:15 hrs. Address by Dr. Mallika Joseph, Executive Director, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo 10:30 hrs. EU and SAARC: Building an Effective Region to Region Partnership by Ms. Gauri Khandekar, Head of Programme, Agora Asia-Europe, Brussels 10:45 hrs. Tackling the Deterrence to South Asian Union by Dr. Binoda Kumar Mishra, Director, Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development (CSIRD), Kolkata 3
11:00 hrs. Floor Discussions 11:30 hrs. Response by Presenters (5 mins. each) 11:50 hrs. Tea/Coffee Fourth Session 12:05 noon Address by Mr. Sujeev Shakya, Chair, Nepal Economic Forum, Kathmandu 12:20 noon Address by Mr. Sayed Noorullah Raghi, Center for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul 12:35 noon Address by Ms. Aparupa Bhattacharjee, Research Officer, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi 12:50 noon Floor Discussions 13:20 hrs. Response by Presenters (5 mins. each) 13:45 hrs. Lunch Concluding Session COSATT member institutions only 14:30 hrs. The Way Forward for COSATT by Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey 14:45 hrs. Suggestions on Future Programs of COSATT 15:30 hrs. Final Words by Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister, Regional Programme- Political Dialogue Asia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung 15:45 hrs. End of the Conference 16:00 hrs. Visit to Swayambhunath Stupa (optional) 20:00 hrs. Dinner at Hotel Soaltee 4
July 17, 2014 (Thu.) Departures 5