This foundational report traces CIASS's establishment under the Shankardev Education and Research Foundation, from the founding discussions at Gauhati University in 2024 to the Centre's Curtain Raising Programme in Shillong and its early lecture series in Guwahati and Delhi. It sets out CIASS's five core research areas: culture and language, trade and commerce, national security, international relations and diplomacy, and governance and political studies, and includes two full guest lectures: Lt. Gen. Rana Pratap Kalita on regional instability in Bangladesh and Myanmar and its implications for Northeast India, and Dr. Samudra Gupta Kashyap on the historical and strategic importance of Northeast India's neighbourhood, from ancient trade routes to the modern Act East Policy.