Ladakh was established as a union territory of India on 31 October 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, it was part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Ladakh is the largest and the second least populous union territory of India. In ‘Coeval Discourse III” on Ladakh the eminent speakers from the field of academics participated to address to outline a suitable road map for the country’s newly entitled Union Territory.

The seminar held on 21st December,2019 was chaired by Prof. JayantaBandyopadhyay, Visiting Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, India. Other speakers were Brigadier Niladri Shankar Mukherjee, SM, VSMM (Retd), Secretary and Treasurer, The Research Centre for Eastern and North, Eastern Regional Studies, Kolkata, Adv. AdilMurshed of Calcutta High Court and Prof. Bimal Shankar Nanda, Dept of Pol. Science, University of Calcutta. The importance of Ladakh to both India and China was rooted in complicated historical processes that led to the territory becoming union territory in 2019 (earlier it was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir)Mr.Goutam De, Regional Director, ICCR, Kolkata in his welcome address presented his views and suggestions on the very issue. Brigadier Niladri Shankar Mukherjee presented his discussion on theGeostrategic aspects of Ladakh. Located at the crossroads of important trade routes since ancient times. Ladakh had always enjoyed great geostrategic importance. Besides India, several other countries like China and Pakistan were trying to establish their dominance over this region.Brig. Mukherjee in his deliberation explained the role of the above-mentioned nations in this geostrategically important region. Adv. AdilMurshed while pointing out the ecological aspects of Ladakh expressed his fear that one had to be more careful in an ecologically-sensitive region like Ladakh.

There would have been a consideration on the ecological degradation before the region was opened up for the tourists,the government must have strict regulations in place. Prof. Bimal Shankar Nanda in his deliberation discussed the political importance of Ladakh as a region. In his discussion, he analyzed the political importance of the union territory status of Lakadh bringing a feeling of comfiture among the localites especially with regards to their sustainability .He added that long standing disassociation, economic and political discrimination affected the ladakhis to a great extent would now come to an end.