IIT Kharagpur gets Manekshaw centre for national security studies, research

KOLKATA : The Manekshaw Centre of Excellence for National Security Studies and Research was inaugurated on the IIT Kharagpur campus on the 75th Foundation Day of the institute, an official said on Saturday. The Manekshaw Centre is an innovative initiative which brings together IITs, IISc, and NITs on a common platform to carry out academic and research activities dedicated to defence technology and national security, an institute spokesperson told PTI.

"This national centre for collaboration among IITs with the patronage of the directors of IITs, IIIT and IISc, will create an ecosystem that realises the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative in the field of defence and national security," the spokesperson said. Lt Gen Subrata Saha, executive chairman, Manekshaw Centre and Prof Suman Chakraborty, Director IIT Kharagpur, were present at the inauguration ceremony on August 18.

Manekshaw Centre is a single window of communications for the armed forces and other security agencies for research and capacity building "through academia," the spokesperson said, adding the initiative has been taken forward under the patronage of Union Education Ministry. The Manekshaw Centre will collaborate with start-ups and industry partners to prioritise research. Specially curated courses on next-gen warfare and emerging technologies are being offered. The centre will conduct dialogues with stakeholders to achieve convergence of futuristic technologies with futuristic wars", the spokesperson said.

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"Developing future technologies at the pace of change in warfare requires collaborative effort of the entire nation to bring in both the energy and expertise in imagination, innovation, technology manufacturing," Saha said. Chakraborty emphasised that IIT Kharagpur shall lead the overall initiatives of Manekshaw Centre in healthcare technologies, hardware security, AI in defence and entrepreneurship development.

Chakraborty said, "The inauguration of the Manekshaw Centre marks a transformative step toward building a self-reliant defence and national security research in India. At IIT Kharagpur, we are proud to lead this mission, bringing together academia, industry, and the Armed Forces to pioneer cutting-edge innovative hardware security, healthcare technologies, and beyond."