Takshashila Network for Advanced Studies Conference 2026

The Takshashila Network for Advanced Studies (TNAS) Conference 2026 convened a diverse community of fellows, experts, and practitioners in Bengaluru for three days of intensive dialogue on India’s most pressing national security challenges.

March 4, 2026

The Takshashila Network for Advanced Studies (TNAS) Conference 2026, held from February 27 to March 1 at The Chancery Pavilion, Bengaluru, brought together a vibrant community of practitioners, scholars, officers, and policymakers working on India’s most critical national security challenges. This year’s conference convened 53 fellows, 62 mentors and experts, and 30 members of the Takshashila team. Across three days, four fellowship tracks — China (NASC), Pakistan (NASP), Technology Geopolitics (NAST), and Law Enforcement and Policing (NAS-LEP) — ran in parallel, coming together at key moments for shared plenaries and cross-disciplinary exchange.

Law Enforcement and Policing (NAS-LEP) Track

As part of the NAS-LEP track, conducted in collaboration with the Indian Police Foundation, fellows developed three policy solutions focused on leveraging AI in law enforcement.

  1. AI-based forensics systems for pattern detection in evidence, and localising the systems to ensure data sovereignty and security.

  2. Using AI for efficient traffic control and implementing safeguards to prevent surveillance excesses and protect privacy.

  3. AI-based analytics to detect patterns in cybercrimes, enabling targeted mitigation strategies. Further, using these insights to automate targeted AI-driven awareness campaigns for proactive prevention.

Network for Advanced Studies of China (NASC) Track

The NASC track discussions focused on a practical assessment of the PRC’s Tibet strategy, its green technology diplomacy through the BRI, and approach to an open-source technological ecosystem. A key insight emergent from the discussions of the NASC Fellowship was that India’s most important policy question today should be countering Chinese involution and trade dumping practices without relying overtly on industrial subsidies, which are now under the global radar due to China’s actions in the past many decades, while also preparing to counter Beijing’s own strategy for the next five years, which is to not allow traditional manufacturing and jobs to take flight elsewhere.

Network for Advanced Studies of Technology (NAST) Track

The NAST Track at the conference was organised around four themes:

  1. Emerging Technologies & Supply Chains theme examined India’s vulnerabilities in global tech supply chains: from critical minerals for solar energy to software security for critical infrastructure and clean energy for AI data centres. Prof. Douglas Fuller offered a comparative lens through China’s technology policy.

  2. Space theme focused on India’s role in global space governance and the strategic importance of space domain awareness in the commercial “NewSpace” era.

  3. Technology, Geopolitics & National Power theme tackled how middle powers like India should navigate the US-China tech rivalry and what sovereignty means in an innovation-driven age.

  4. AI & Cybersecurity theme covered GeoAI for geospatial sovereignty, India’s AI competitiveness, cyber sovereignty, and the impact of autonomous systems on urban warfare.

Overall, the NAST track revolved around one central question: How does India build strategic autonomy in technology as the global order fragments along great-power lines?

Network for Advanced Studies of Pakistan (NASP) Track

The NASP track convened leading thinkers, researchers, former government officials, and academicians for a focused dialogue on a critical neighbor. Through discussions and exchanges, the track aimed to deepen scholarship, and build a more nuanced understanding of Pakistan. The conversations were anchored in key thematic areas, including Pakistan’s economic and Bitcoin infrastructure, its militant-media ecosystem, evolving civil-military dynamics, and existing foreign relations.

The conference closed with a ceremony addressed by Pranay Kotasthane (Deputy Director, Takshashila), Narayan Ramachandran (Co-founder, Takshashila), and Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon (Director, Strategic Studies Programme). The closing remarks reflected on what the fellowship cohorts had produced, what remained unresolved, and what Takshashila hopes to carry forward from this convening.