The highlights

Iqwat Global Business Conclave 2.0

Saturday, 31 October 2026 · The Lalit, Mumbai

Date

31 October 2026

Venue

The Lalit, Mumbai

Attendance

More than 350 Kashmiri Pandits

Founders, professionals, investors and artists, from across India and abroad.

The theme

The day ran on the theme of saffron.

The saffron flower is violet, yet it takes its name from three fine strands of colour it carries. Small, rare and unmistakable wherever it goes, the flower served as the conclave’s image of the community.

The highlight of the day

A fireside chat with the Honourable Foreign Secretary.

Honourable Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary of India, in conversation with Ajay Kaul, Founder Director of Iqwat Foundation. Honourable Vikram Misri addressed the gathering.

The programme

What the hall heard.

Traditional lighting of the lamp to open the day.
Keynote address by Pankaj Razdan, titled From Resilience to Enterprise.
Three panel discussions:
- The Art and Science of Fund Raising
- The Scale Playbook · Founder Speed, Corporate Discipline
- How Our Cultural DNA Shapes the Exceptional Leadership of Kashmiri Pandits
A message for the community was sent from the United States by Ambassador Shefali Razdan Duggal.

The Iqwat Startup Challenge

Five pitched. Three stood.

Five shortlisted startups pitched live to the jury and the audience on the main stage.

Winner

Urzuv

First runner-up

Chattrly

Second runner-up

Giga

The Dry State and Fibitech completed the line-up of finalists.

What the speakers said

Four voices from the day.

“Resilience built our past. Enterprise will build our future. Let us be known not only for what we have overcome, but for what we build.”

· Pankaj Razdan, Keynote Speaker

“Wherever our journeys took us, we held on to education and learning. That is what earned us the name Pandit, and it is what helped us rise again. Our purpose now is to bring back the pride of being a Kashmiri Pandit.”

· Ajay Kaul, Founder Director, Iqwat Foundation

“Rebuilt from zero. The Kashmiri Pandit has arrived. Now it is time to give back, and not in words. Our resources, our networks, our money. A community moves forward only when its people act.”

· Sandeep Kaul, Director, Iqwat Foundation

“Saffron is a violet flower, named for three tiny strands of colour. Small, rare, and impossible to miss wherever it goes. That is the Kashmiri Pandit story. Whatever we have been through, wherever we are today, we have left our mark at the top of every field.”

· Aditya Kalla, Chief Convenor, Iqwat Foundation

The room around the room

Culture, conversation, and a Kashmiri Pandit table.

The day also featured actor Mohit Raina and author and presenter Siddharth Kak, host of the iconic Doordarshan series Surabhi.

Folk music performances by Priya Raina, a finalist on India’s Got Talent, and Sumit Patwari carried the programme between sessions, while live podcast conversations were hosted by Karishma Kemmu and Ridima Wali.

For the first time, The Lalit Mumbai served Kashmiri Pandit cuisine, which is traditionally cooked without onion and garlic. The hotel’s culinary team, led by Executive Chef Amet Rane, brought the menu to the table in close collaboration with Aalav Kitchen, a Mumbai-based cloud kitchen run by Kashmiri Pandit entrepreneur Rohini Bhat, which curated it.

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