“The MANDATE of NESRC is to be a centre combining serious intellectual pursuits with involvement with persons and groups active in social change in the region.”

In the context of ethnic and political conflict, it is to provide a platform for groups in conflict to meet and search for solutions and not itself find solutions for them. Given the size of the Northeast with its seven States, NESRC is to be a node for encouraging intellectual and activist pursuits in the whole region. Instead of centralising work in Guwahati, it is to help smaller units to evolve in the rest of the region. ..