It is not one of Northeast News’ brief to annually take stock of either the year that has gone by in the region, nor laud the personages who have made a difference to the expanse.
But the reality is that the sea change that has been witnessed in the North East is primarily because of certain extraordinary personalities. This unusual phenomenon has been carefully studied by us, and we have reached a decision that far-reaching policy changes have taken place as a result of auguries and caveats made by a few among many.
Unfortunately, such people are not in officialdom and have, therefore, not been noticed by both the provincial governments in the North East or the Indian state. But to be fair, it is such people who have made the vital difference.
The difference came at a time when India and the North East was facing an almost state of seize like situation. Op Sindoor was a fitting response to a bestial Baisaran. Later, Pakistan and its new found offshore friends were engineering “white-collared” conspiracies. These mushroomed inside India with the slogan of revenge.
A belligerent Bangladesh was becoming even more combative as it sought to manifest its anti-India stance by committing atrocities on the Hindu minorities in the country. Ripples of the pogroms were being felt in Assam and in adjoining areas. Dhaka also made statements about the region that threatened to severe it from mainland Inda.
Myanmar continued to burn, and despite a charade of elections, Indian Insurgent Groups hiding in the country’s Sagaing Division were attacking Indian security forces with a new found objective that had sly intent of foreign support and persuasion.
The Act East policy that had been ambitiously anvilled was on the backburner, going nowhere, even as efforts to usher in durable peace in trouble torn Manipur came up against several inimical walls of resistance.
Assam was perhaps one of the only states in the North East that was being managed robustly. It goes to the credit of the sagacity of the Chief Minister of Assam that the state withstood several attempts whereby it was sought to be held to ransom, especially by way of subterfuges that had their epicentre in a sinister Dhaka. Even the recent attempt to stir up ethnic passions in Lower Assam was quickly managed by the Assam Police’s leadership.
We, as news conduit organisation, have been alert, carefully watching both the winds of change and the wisdom that navigated its waypoints.
We realised that India’s national security had been endowed with a new rhythm that was empowering law and order with the finesse of a maestro. Lyricism of a high order had come to define and direct strategic imperatives of a great nation.
Jaideep Saikia presenting a wooden replica of the Holy Kamakhya temple to the
legendary Vikram Seth prepared by Saikia’s buddy Brajen Kalita
Strategy, we realise, is smelted by a comprehension of not only a symptomatic view of an ailment, but by a deep understanding of the history, geography and the wind vanes of sudden change. Only very (and it is being repeated!), very few minds have the acumen and the ability to oracularly plough through indecipherable “chatter” of awaiting storms and decipher distant drumbeats of disturbance. Such prescience can only be attributed to star-seed like cerebral hemispheres, and aspects that—for God and Country—not only forewarn, but prescribe remedial measures that are actionable in real time.
We have voted before, and we are doing so again today with a sense of responsibility. The personage who has been tirelessly, day after day, writing, counselling and course correcting Indian strategic thought in a year that witnessed a war and enormous pugnacious behaviour from not only its neighbours, but from forces across the seven seas was that of Jaideep Saikia’s.
Jaideep Saikia has several original thoughts to his credit. The popular ones are (a) Line of Amity which envisages a ligne median betweenIndia and China (b) Gateway Theorywhich states that Islamists are entering and utilising the demographic junglesof Lower Assam only as a corridor tomainland India in order to perpetrate terror alongside Pakistan basedterrorist organisations (c)Pakistanisation of India’s easternseaboard (d) Counter Radicalisation as opposed to Deradicalisation(e) The four Ds (Defend,Defeat, Destroy, Deny) and (f) “Satellite-to-Ant” Ocular Strategy.
A new school of thought which has come to be known as the “Jai-Kian School of Strategic Thought” has definitively come to the fore on 1 December 2025. Academicians, top military leaders, counter terrorism experts, security analysts and theorists are closely analysing and studying the unique “Jai-Kian” concepts, a few of which were mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Jaideep Saikia has earlier been decorated by the Governor of Assam (1999), GOC-in-C, Eastern Army Command (2022), Director General, Assam Rifles (2024) and the GOCs of 3,4, 33 Corps (2020 – 2024) for selfless service to India’s national security as well as by the Commissioner &Secretary, Department of Culture, Government of Assam (2021) for transcreating Assam’s national song into English for the first time. He has also received honours for his poetry—he has six anthologies of poetry to his credit, apart from a plethora of books, papers and columns on India’s national security. It is interesting that we have never found Jaideep Saikia commenting on the Russo-Ukraine war or even the United States’ invasion of Venezuela. We understood that Jaideep Saikia writes only what he knows, and after having gone to the depths of the issue, many a times by actually visiting the sites of the problems.
One wonders how his disability (he has metallic implants in his right leg with multiple nails embedded in it – a result of a fall during “slithering” in 3 Mahar Regiment) permits him to walk or undertake arduous journeys to places such as Khinzemane, Oting, Churachandpur, Menchuka or Miao. But Jaideep Saikia’s signature has always been “seeing is believing” and he has endured both pain and penury for God and Country. But he continues to be unsung, quietly working day in and day out, strategising for India—his first love.
Northeast News reached out to some of India’s top strategic thinkers, practioners and national security experts after we chose Jaideep Saikia as the man who made the utmost difference to India’s national security in 2025 through his writings and commentaries. We are reproducing below their observations.
Jaideep Saikia is not only a trusted voice in India’s strategic discourse, but also a luminary whose depth of knowledge and commitment to understanding the realities on the ground set him apart from other strategic experts. When he writes about an issue that India is faced with, internal or externally guided, he immediately demystifies the intricacies that define the problem.I have had the privilege of knowing and closely interacting with him for the last quarter of a century. Our extensive conversations on strategic subjects have repeatedly revealed his exceptional intellect and articulate nature. He possesses an extremely sharp mind with an uncanny ability to recognise patterns within complicated events, enabling him to correlate historical developments with contemporary dilemmas.
Ashok Prasad, IPS
Former Director General of Police, Jammu & Kashmir
Former Special Director, Intelligence Bureau
Former Secretary, Internal Security, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India
Jaideep Saikia is one of the foremost strategic analysts in the country whose writings on a wide range of security-related topics concerning India and the neighbourhood are read with a great amount of interest both by the establishment and people in general.He has an uncanny insight into prevailing conflict situations everywhere and expresseshimself in a refreshing and bold style. He does a lot of “out of the box” thinking and comes out with innovative and practical solutions which makes him a very popular conflict analyst.
Lt Gen B.K. Bopanna
Former GOC, 21 Mountain Division
Former Director General, National Cadet Corps
An erudite scholar, Jaideep Saikia’s work stands out for his intellectual honesty, challenging narratives based on facts. He combines field expertise with intellectual depth, often choosing to address issues in the grey zone. His expertise on counter terrorism, insurgency and internal security reflects a sensitivity towards complexities and is an asset to academic research. Decades of hard work and in-depth research have been his hallmark.
Ram Madhav
India Foundation
Jaideep Saikia’s contribution to strategic thought of India has been remarkable. I have deep admiration for all his writings specifically on issues such as Counter Radicalisation, Line of Amity, Counter-insurgency & Terrorism in the region.
Lt Gen K Himalay Singh
Former Chairman, Manipur Public Service Commission
Former Commandant, Infantry School
Former GOC, Nagrota Corps, Jammu & Kashmir
Jaideep Saikia is one of India’s leading and renowned Geo-Strategic experts and Conflict Analysts. He has vast experience as a security analyst on emerging security scenarios, especially in North East region and neighbouring countries. I am an avid reader of his columns published in several journals and newspapers and have also read books authored by him on security and terrorism to include “Terror Sans Frontiers”, “Bangladesh: Treading the Taliban Trail”, “Frontier in Flames” and “Point of Impact”. His deep knowledge, insightful perspectives and thoughtful analysis have greatly enhanced my understanding of South Asia, especially North East India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Lt Gen Adosh Kumar
Director General, Artillery. Indian Army
As a close colleague in the National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India I have been direct witness to the manner in which Jaideep Saikia can tirelessly toil. His extraordinary intellect, spotless integrity and humility are the envy of all who have come in touch with him, as is his pride and selfless dedication to India’s national security and integrity.
Phunchok Stobdan
Former Indian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
Director, NSCS, Government of India
Author of “Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas”
Jaideep Saikia is an erudite scholar-leader in the field of security Studies. His single-minded focus on the dynamics of China, North Eastern Region of India to include ASEAN has been instrumental in informed decision making by policy makers in military and civilian government bodies.
Lt Gen Dushyant Singh
Director General
Centre for Land Warfare Studies
Former GOC, 11 Corps
Former Chief of Staff, Eastern Command
Commandant, Army War College
Inspector General, National Security Guard (Ops)
I have known Mr. Jaideep Saikia and have closely followed his well-written columns. He consistently demonstrates a strong commitment to research and presents his views in a clear, simple, and easy-to-understand manner. Many of his writings address contemporary issues with direct relevance to national security, and he goes a step further by offering practical and implementable policy recommendations. Such an approach is essential for informed debate and forward-looking decision-making.
Lt Gen V.K. Ahluwalia
Former Director General, Centre for Land Warfare Studies
Former GOC-in-C, Central Command, Indian Army
Jaideep Saikia writings reflect his erudition and show his deep knowledge of internal security matters.
Prakash Singh
Former Director General of Police, Assam,& Uttar Pradesh
Former Director General, Border Security Force
Jaideep Saikia stands out as a rare blend of a columnist, scholar, and strategic thinker.His work reflects deep field, on the ground experience, combined with rigorous academic insight. With clarity and courage, he has consistently illuminated India’s internal security and geopolitical challenges. He writes not to impress, but to inform and strengthen national understanding. His contribution to strategic discourse is both enduring and invaluable.
Lt Gen Shokin Chauhan
Former Director General, Assam Rifles
Jaideep Saikia writes with the rare authority of someone who understands the lived realities of the geopolitics of North East India. His analysis is marked by strategic depth, intellectual honesty, and a calm refusal to be swayed by easy certainties. His work offers clarity, balance, and a view rooted in hard-earned experience.
Jyotirmay Chakravarty, IPS
Former Commissioner of Police, Guwahati
Jaideep Saikia brings exceptional depth and credibility to strategic writing on India’s North East, combining granular regional knowledge with a firm grasp of national and regional security dynamics. His analyses are marked by foresight and predictive capabilities, often identifying emerging trends and faultlines well before they enter mainstream strategic discourse. Above all, his work reflects a rare sense of balance—analytically rigorous, policy-relevant, and measured—making his writing both influential and trustworthy for practitioners and policymakers alike.
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain
Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir
Former GOC, 15 & 21 Corps
Former Military Secretary, Indian Army
Northeast News votes Jaideep Saikia as the “Unsung Czar of India’s National Security” of the year 2025.
