13-02-2026 : Address by Governor at the Inauguration of the Bharat Himalayan International Strategic Manch (BHISM), Dehradun

Jai Hind!

When you have spent a lifetime amongst mountains, you begin to understand that they do not respond to urgency.
They respond to patience.
They demand preparation.
And they punish shortcuts.

I learnt this early in my military life.

As a young officer posted in Banbasa, and later during my long years in Srinagar, the Himalayas were not just a backdrop to duty. They were active participants. Terrain dictated movement. Weather shaped decisions. Silence carried information. And time, more than force, determined outcomes.

You could not afford to think in weeks or months. You had to think in seasons. Sometimes in decades.

I begin with this – because institutions, much like mountains, are not built for immediacy. They are built for endurance.

When I reflect on the vision behind the Bharat Himalayan International Strategic Manch, what strikes me most is not how large it intends to become, but how deeply it understands the ground it stands on and the time it is willing to invest in building something enduring.

For decades, most strategic conversations in our country have emerged from metropolitan centres, far removed from the physical realities of our frontiers. Valuable, no doubt. But incomplete.

The Himalayas are living strategic systems. They shape our borders, our climate, our water security, our cultural identity, and our defence posture. Anyone who has commanded troops in these regions knows that policy decisions taken far away, without terrain intimacy, often carry unseen costs.

BHISM’s location in Dehradun is therefore not incidental. It is deliberate.

Within a short radius, we have the Indian Military Academy, shaping generations of officers who lead on the frontlines. We have the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, where India’s civil leadership is prepared for governance in complex environments. We have the Forest Research Institute, the Survey of India, the Wildlife Institute of India, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, the Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, the National Hydrographic Organisation, and many more.

These institutions deal with terrain, ecology, mapping, governance, water systems, disaster science, and human-environment interaction. These are not peripheral subjects. They are central to modern national security.

Placing BHISM in Dehradun allows it to draw from this extraordinary density of knowledge.

It allows strategic thought to be informed by those who map our land, study our geology, manage our forests, analyse our water systems, and train our administrators. It creates a natural convergence between military understanding, academic research, and policy formulation.

India’s challenges today demand this integration.

Border management is no longer just about fencing and deployment. It involves infrastructure planning, technology integration, community engagement, and environmental sensitivity.

Internal security requires understanding social patterns as much as operational preparedness.

Disaster management in Himalayan states demands scientific modelling, local awareness, rapid response capability, and long-term ecological balance.

Urban planning in fragile terrain requires foresight, not expansion alone.

These are interconnected challenges. And they demand interdisciplinary thinking. Dehradun, as the education capital of Uttarakhand, offers precisely that ecosystem.

Institutions like IIT Roorkee bring engineering depth and technological research. GB Pant University contributes agricultural and sustainability expertise. Research bodies across the state study ecology, geology, water systems, and climate impact. Together, they create a research base that can directly inform national policy.

This is how ideas become implementable.
This convergence is rare. And it is powerful.

In the Army, we used to say that good intelligence is not what arrives fastest. It is what arrives most accurately. That principle applies equally to policymaking.

The location of BHISM here ensures that strategic thinking remains connected to ground realities of the Himalayan frontier – a region central to India’s defence posture, water security, climate resilience, and civilisational identity.

From a military perspective, anticipation is the essence of strategy. In the mountains, you do not prepare after snowfall. You prepare before it. You do not study terrain during conflict. You understand it beforehand.

Similarly, long-range scenario modelling, which BHISM envisions, is not academic exercise. It is national insurance.

India today stands at a transformative juncture. We are in Amrit Kaal, looking ahead to 2047 – the centenary of our independence. The aspiration is clear: a developed, self-reliant, secure, and culturally confident Bharat.

Achieving that vision requires economic growth, certainly. It requires technological advancement. It requires infrastructure.
But it also requires strategic clarity.

It requires institutions that are non-partisan, professionally autonomous, and intellectually rigorous. Institutions that discourage polarisation and encourage evidence-based discourse. Institutions that help India shape narratives, rather than merely respond to them.

BHISM has the potential to become such an institution.

It can become a platform where military realities, diplomatic imperatives, academic research, and civil administration converge constructively.

As a constitutional authority today, I speak with responsibility. My years in uniform shaped my understanding of national interest. My current role reinforces my commitment to institutional strength.

Uttarakhand has always contributed disproportionately to national service. Our youth join the armed forces in large numbers. Discipline and duty are woven into our social fabric. It is only natural that strategic thought emerging from this soil carries that same seriousness of purpose.

Under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, India is moving decisively towards becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047. The emphasis on self-reliance, security, technological innovation, and civilisational confidence demands institutions that think deeply and act responsibly.

BHISM, from Dehradun, can contribute meaningfully to this journey.

The Himalayas teach us endurance.
They teach us balance.
They teach us that strength is not loud, but firm.

If this institution reflects those qualities.. depth, patience, integrity, and foresight – it will serve the nation well.

I wish BHISM clarity of purpose, strength of scholarship, and the discipline to build for generations.

Thank you. Jai Hind!