A three-volume literary tribute to one of India's most storied frontier states found a fitting stage in New Delhi on Friday, October 9, 2026, when Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu joined Union Ministers, the state's Governor, and NITI Aayog's Vice Chairman to launch Shiv Kunal Verma's ambitious trilogy — 'Arunachal: The Sap Runs Perennial, The Wild Green Earth & Ladders to Heaven' — a work Khandu called 'not merely a collection of books, but a celebration of the unique identity, heritage and timeless beauty of our beloved Arunachal Pradesh.'

Three volumes, one vast canvas

The release was organised by NITI Aayog under the initiative of its Vice Chairman, Dr Ashok Kumar Lahiri, bringing together a rare convergence of political and cultural luminaries. Alongside Chief Minister Khandu, the dais included Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt Gen KT Parnaik and Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Rao Inderjit Singh. The gathering underlined that this was not a routine book launch — it was an institutional endorsement of Arunachal's place in India's national imagination.

Author Shiv Kunal Verma received direct praise from the Chief Minister for what Khandu described as 'painstaking efforts' in crafting the trilogy. The three volumes together span the state's vibrant tribal cultures, rich history, breathtaking valleys, majestic mountains, age-old traditions, and extraordinary biodiversity — an undertaking in scope and ambition that few single works on northeastern India have attempted.

Why NITI Aayog's role matters here

NITI Aayog's decision to host and organise the release carries signal value beyond ceremony. The policy body's active involvement in promoting Arunachal's cultural heritage — a state that sits at India's sensitive northeastern frontier — reflects a broader governmental interest in asserting the region's identity, history, and belonging through soft power as much as through infrastructure and diplomacy.

CM Khandu's expression of 'sincere gratitude' to Dr Lahiri for 'his continued interest in promoting the rich heritage and unique identity of Arunachal Pradesh' suggests an ongoing institutional relationship, not a one-off event. For a state whose identity has long been the subject of external contestation, a high-profile national-capital launch is itself a statement.

A hope that the mountains speak to the world

Khandu's closing wish was pointed and aspirational: that 'stories of our land, our people and our rich heritage travel far beyond our mountains and resonate with the world.' The phrasing is deliberate — Arunachal's mountains are not just geography. They are the boundary between claimed and contested, between known and unknown. A trilogy that puts the state's culture, people, and landscape into the hands of global readers does quiet but durable work.

With ministers from two different portfolios present alongside the Governor and the Chief Minister himself, the launch sent a unified message: Arunachal Pradesh's story is one India wants the world to read.

The trilogy is now set for wider circulation — and if its champions have their way, it will find readers as far from the Eastern Himalayas as the shelves that hold them.