Ajit Kumar Doval, India’s National Security Advisor, spoke to the graduating class of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee during the convocation ceremony held on Saturday. He emphasized that this generation of students is the ‘luckiest’ due to the numerous opportunities that await them. Doval’s address marked the commencement of the IIT Roorkee Convocation 2026, highlighting the significance of the event for the graduates.
General N S Raja Subramani, Chief of Defence Staff of India and Secretary, Department of Military Affairs, attended the occasion as the guest of honour. Addressing the graduating students, Doval spoke to the graduating class about direction, how to find it, and how to keep it. The Institute also awarded the MS by research degree for the first time to students exiting the doctoral programme under the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP).
The first day of the Convocation, dedicated to Undergraduate (UG) students, on September 19, 2026, featured Ajit Kumar Doval, National Security Advisor of India, as the chief guest, who delivered the convocation address, according to the official update. Doval recalled an old Tibetan Sherpa he had worked with as a young intelligence officer in Sikkim, a man who had roamed the hills for 45 years with neither a map nor a compass, but who knew three things: In a social media post on X, IIT Roorkee shared glimpses of Doval’s speech. A total of 1,277 undergraduate students received their degrees on the first day of the convocation. The recipients included 1,001 male and 276 female students, according to the institute. The second day of the two-day Convocation saw 1,424 students receive their degrees, comprising 903 postgraduate degrees, 518 PhD or dual degrees and three MS by research degrees. READ MORE | IIT Roorkee Convocation 2026: BTech Mechanical Student Honoured With President’s Gold Medal In a press release shared with NDTV, the institute highlighted that it conferred 518 PhD degrees at the IIT Roorkee Convocation 2026, the highest-ever number of PhD degrees awarded by IIT Roorkee. The official record mentioned that there were 702 male and 201 female postgraduate recipients, while the PhD category comprised 346 male and 172 female recipients.
“You may not be conscious of the fact that, in the last 1,000 years, you are the luckiest generation, which is going to have so many opportunities,” the national security advisor said. Doval also congratulated the parents “who groomed, motivated, and made it possible” for the students to achieve this, and the teachers and professors whose knowledge, he said, will shape how these graduates contribute for the betterment of themselves, the society, the nation, and humanity.
“You are coming at an age when technology will be the most important driving factor in any country’s or society’s growth and progress,” he added.
