SECOND ANNUAL IIFOMAS SYMPOSIUM : 09 DEC 2025
The Second Annual IIFOMAS Symposium, titled “Clearing Danger – Achieving Development”, was held at the Manekshaw Auditorium, New Delhi, on 09 December 2025. The symposium was organised by Horizon Safer World Foundation in partnership with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).
This edition of the IIFOMAS Symposium conveyed a powerful and timely message: “Before nations can build, they must first clear the invisible threats beneath their soil.” The symposium underscored the vital link between mine clearance, international safety, reconstruction and economic revival. It highlighted how removing explosive hazards from the ground restores dignity, enables safe resettlement and unlocks development potential for affected communities. The programme combined high-level addresses, expert lectures and three focused panel discussions addressing development imperatives, India’s global role, and technological innovation in mine action.
Highlights
Welcome AddressLt Gen Dushyant Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd), Director General, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), delivered the Welcome Address, setting the tone for a focused deliberation on advancing mine action and transforming post-conflict challenges into opportunities for recovery and growth.
Inaugural AddressGen Anil Chauhan, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC, Chief of Defence Staff,
delivered the Inaugural Address, setting the strategic context of the symposium. He underscored India’s pivotal contribution to global mine action and its commitment to building safer and more resilient communities worldwide. He also lauded the Horizon Group for its pioneering work in the humanitarian mine action domain.
Keynote Address Col Navneet MP Mittal (Retd), Founder & Director General, IIFOMAS, and Chairman, Horizon Group delivered the Keynote Address. He emphasized that land release must be demand-driven and aligned with national development priorities such as agriculture, housing, transport corridors and public services. The keynote highlighted the need for policy coherence, predictable financing and appropriate technology adoption to enhance safety, efficiency and long-term impact.
Ambassador Anupam Ray, IFS (Retd), Former Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament, complimented Horizon and IIFOMAS for converting India’s technical and diplomatic experience into a practical, exportable capability. Drawing on his disarmament and diplomatic background, he emphasized the global demand for Indian skills in demining and commended the forum’s potential to grow into an influential international event that links policy, practice and diplomacy. 
Mr Paul Heslop, Senior Mine Action advisor, Resident Coordinator's office United Nations Ukraine, highlighted the funding and outcome challenge. With constrained global finance, Mine Action must demonstrate measurable impact (reopened schools, restored agriculture, economic benefit) rather than output metrics alone. He advocated for rapid exclusion of safe land using remote sensing and AI so that scarce clearance resources can be concentrated on genuinely hazardous areas, and warned that evolving delivery systems (e.g., drone-delivered munitions) require anticipatory adaptation in detection and clearance strategies. Session Summaries
Session I
Expert Talk - An Expert Talk on “Danger to Development – Demining, UN Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding” was delivered by Amb Dinkar Srivastava (IFS Retd). Drawing upon extensive diplomatic and multilateral experience, the lecture highlighted the central role of demining in enabling peacebuilding, stabilisation and sustainable development. The address linked effective mine action directly to the success of UN peacekeeping operations, humanitarian access and long-term recovery in post-conflict environments.Panel Discussion I
Clearing Land for Growth: From Contamination to OpportunityThis panel focused on the transition from contaminated land to productive, development-ready assets.
Maj Gen Ajay Seth, VSM (Retd), Chairman, IIFOMAS Board and Moderator, brought out the enormity of the problem at hand and the number of countries affected by large scale landmine and UXO contamination. He framed mine action as a strategic enabler of post-conflict recovery.
H.E. Ms Mahishini Colonne, Sri Lankan High Commissioner, traced Sri Lanka’s mine action journey from emergency post-conflict clearance to development-oriented recovery, highlighting lessons on national ownership, coordination mechanisms and residual contamination challenges. Highlighting India and Horizon Group’s contribution to mine action efforts in Sri Lanka, she called for India to partner with the mission to complete clearance operations and advance redevelopment initiatives in the affected regions.
H.E. Lt Gen Carlos Rachimo (Retd), Director General, Angola National Demining Centre, highlighted the scale and persistence of mine and UXO contamination in Angola, underscoring the long-term economic and social costs of uncleared land decades after conflict.
Prof Jagannathan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, emphasised the importance of planning mine action in parallel with reconstruction, rather than as a sequential activity, to maximise development outcomes and efficiency.Session II Lecture - Normative Frameworks of Landmines and UXOs
Smt Nutan Kapoor Mahawar, Acting Director General and Additional Secretary, Indian Council of World Affairs, outlined the international legal and normative frameworks governing landmines and UXOs. She highlighted India’s capacity to convene partners, provide training and offer demining expertise, while stressing the importance of strengthening national policies and inter-agency coordination.Panel Discussion II
India’s Emergence as a Compassionate Force in Mine Action
This panel examined India’s growing role as a responsible, humane and development-oriented actor in global mine action, rooted in its peacekeeping experience, institutional capabilities and civilisational ethos.
Mr Mayank Singh, Senior Assistant Editor, The New Indian Express was the Moderator. He positioned mine action as a humanitarian instrument of diplomacy, reinforcing India’s credibility through balanced security, development and humanitarian engagement.
Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh, IPS, Former DG BSF and Former Deputy NSA, highlighted the evolving threat of IEDs in asymmetric and internal security contexts, stressing preparedness, institutional learning and international knowledge sharing.
Maj Gen R.R. Bhat, DGCE, E-in-C Branch emphasised the Indian Armed Forces’ extensive experience in UN peacekeeping, engineering support and post-conflict stabilisation, and their potential role in training and capacity building.
Col Badal Sheopuri (Retd) stressed that compassion in mine action must be reflected through survivor rehabilitation, prosthetics, livelihood restoration and social reintegration, placing affected communities at the centre of recovery.
Col Navneet MP Mittal (Retd)highlighted the need for coherent national policy, inter-agency coordination and public–private partnerships to institutionalise India’s mine action outreach and align it with international cooperation and development goals.Session III
Panel Discussion III
Emerging Technologies in Mine Action : Innovation for Safer Futures
This panel focused on the role of technology and innovation in enhancing safety, efficiency and sustainability in mine action operations. Discussions highlighted how emerging tools, indigenous manufacturing and adaptive training can significantly reduce risk to deminers while accelerating clearance outcomes.
Lt Gen Arvind Walia, AVSM (Retd), Former Engineer-in-Chief, Indian Army and Moderator, set the context by emphasising that technology must complement—not replace—field expertise. He underscored the importance of operational relevance, reliability and scalability when adopting new technologies for mine action.
Shri Satish Mehta, (IFS Retd) Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS – Jaipur Foot), highlighted transformative developments in prosthetic technologies, stressing their role in survivor rehabilitation, mobility restoration and social reintegration. He emphasised affordable, scalable solutions as a humanitarian imperative.
Col Sanjeev Kumar, SM (Retd), Kapri Corp, spoke on advancements in modern detection technologies, outlining improvements in accuracy, safety and efficiency through enhanced sensors and equipment designed for diverse operational environments.
Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Navyug Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, discussed integrating advanced sensors with traditional demining training, highlighting how technology-enabled training can improve situational awareness, decision-making and operational safety without diluting core field skills.
Col Umang Trehan (Retd), MKU, addressed modern approaches to enhancing safety in mine action, focusing on protective equipment, system integration and incremental innovations that reduce risk exposure for demining personnel.Essay Writing and Children Painting Competitions
As a lead- up to this symposium, Essay Writing and Drawing Competitions were organized which aimed to engage young minds and professionals in generating innovative ideas, raising awareness on Mine Action, and contributing to post-conflict recovery. Some of the outstanding contributors from these competitions were felicitated by IIFOMAS at the Symposium. We all take pride in the thoughtful engagement of our youth, whose words today may become the guiding principles of tomorrow’s action.
Closing Remarks and Vote of Thanks
The symposium concluded with Closing Remarks and Vote of Thanks by Maj Gen Ajay Seth, VSM (Retd), Chairman, IIFOMAS Board. He summarized the key deliberations of the day and reaffirmed IIFOMAS’ commitment to advancing mine action as a development enabler, humanitarian obligation and strategic necessity. He thanked the distinguished speakers, partners, delegates and organising team for their valuable contributions, and emphasised the importance of translating dialogue into actionable partnerships and field-level impact.
The Second Annual IIFOMAS Symposium concluded with a collective resolve to strengthen collaboration, innovation and policy coherence—ensuring that clearing danger remains the first step towards achieving sustainable development.
