What are the major challenges to internal security and peace process in the North-Eastern States? Map the various peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade.
Approach · directive: “what / map”
What it asks · Identify the drivers of insecurity in the North-East and chart the peace accords of roughly 2015–2025, with what remains unfinished.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Identify the major challenges to internal security and the peace process in the North-Eastern States
- Map the peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade (2015–2025), with what remains unfinished
Open with · Insurgency incidents in the North-East fell 64% between 2014 and 2024, security-force casualties 85% and civilian deaths 86% (MHA Annual Report 2025-26); yet 294 incidents in 2024, mostly from ethnic strife in Manipur, show how fragile peace remains.
Cover
- Ethnic insurgencies and inter-ethnic conflict — Naga, Kuki and Meitei groups; the Manipur violence since May 2023.
- Porous Myanmar border and the Free Movement Regime; camps across the border; arms and drug trafficking from the Golden Triangle; illegal migration.
- Trust deficit: AFSPA and human-rights concerns, extortion economies, unemployment feeding recruitment; inter-State boundary disputes.
- Accords (Tripura–Mizoram): Naga Framework Agreement (2015); NLFT (2019) and NLFT–ATTF (2024); Bru–Reang resettlement (2020).
- Accords (Assam): Bodo Accord (2020), Karbi Anglong (2021), Adivasi groups (2022), DNLA (2023), ULFA pro-talks faction (2023).
- Boundaries and AFSPA: Assam–Meghalaya (2022) and Assam–Arunachal (2023) agreements; ‘disturbed areas’ under AFSPA reduced since 2022.
- Unfinished: the final Naga settlement (flag and constitution demands), Manipur, and time-bound implementation of accord promises.
Close with · Accords have shrunk violence; durable peace now depends on implementing them in letter and spirit and reconciling communities, not only armed groups, so that the North-East becomes India's bridge to South-East Asia, not its frontier.
Add value (verified)
- Under the Memorandum of Settlement of 29 December 2023, ULFA agreed to give up violence, surrender arms and disband.PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs — Memorandum of Settlement with ULFA (29 December 2023) ↗“under today's agreement, ULFA representatives have agreed to abjure path of violence, lay down all their arms and ammunition and disband their armed organisation.”
- MHA Annual Report 2025-26: versus 2014, insurgency incidents down 64% in 2024, security-force casualties down 85%, civilian deaths down 86%.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (Security Situation in North East, para 2.47) ↗“Compared to 2014, there has been a 64% reduction in insurgency incidents in 2024. Similarly, in this period, Security Forces casualties have come down by 85% and Civilian deaths by 86%.”
- AFSPA as on 1 April 2025: 3 districts and parts of a fourth in Arunachal Pradesh; 3 districts in Assam; 9 districts and 21 police stations in Nagaland; revoked from 13 police stations of 5 districts in Manipur; fully revoked in Tripura and Meghalaya.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (para 2.39) ↗“As on 01.04.2025, AFSPA is applicable only in 3 districts and 3 police stations of another district in Arunachal Pradesh. In Assam, it is applicable in only 3 districts. In Nagaland, it is applicable in 9 districts and 21 Police Stations of 5 other districts. In Manipur, it has been revoked from 13 Police Stations of 5 Districts. Further, it is completely revoked from the States of Tripura and Meghalaya.”
- March 2024: the CCS gave in-principle approval for fencing the remaining length of the Indo-Myanmar border.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 3 (Indo-Myanmar Border, para 3.24) ↗“In March 2024, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) granted its in-principle approval for fencing of the remaining border length of Indo-Myanmar Border.”
- UNLF agreement, 29 November 2023: the oldest valley-based armed group in Manipur committed to renounce violence and accept the Constitution.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (Manipur, para 2.72) ↗“On 29.11.2023, a significant peace agreement on agreed ground rules was signed between the Government of India, the Government of Manipur and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), marking a pivotal moment in the search for peace in Manipur through political dialogue.”
- Bodo Accord (MoS, January 2020): a ₹1,500 crore Special Development Package (₹750 crore each from the Centre and Assam) over three years for Bodo areas.MHA, North East Division — Important events and major achievements in North Eastern Region since 2014 (March 2022) ↗“As per MoS, a Special Development Package(SDP) for 1500 crore (Rs. 750 crore by Gol (M/o DoNER) and Rs.750 crore by Govt. of Assam) will be provided for over a period of three years for overall development of Bodo areas in Assam.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 368words · Minimalist IAS
Insurgency incidents in the North-East fell 64% between 2014 and 2024, security-force casualties 85% and civilian deaths 86% (MHA Annual Report 2025-26). Yet 294 insurgency-related incidents in 2024 show how fragile peace remains.
Major challenges to internal security and the peace process
- Ethnic insurgency and inter-ethnic conflict: Naga, Kuki and Meitei claims over land and identity; the Manipur violence since May 2023 is the starkest case.
- Porous Myanmar border: the 1,643 km border and the Free Movement Regime allow rebel camps, arms and drugs from the Golden Triangle, and migration that stokes identity anxieties.
- Trust deficit: AFSPA and human-rights concerns, extortion economies, unemployment that feeds recruitment, and inter-State boundary disputes.
- Peace-process hurdles: factional splits, rival demands such as a Naga flag and constitution, and slow delivery of promises.
Mapping the peace accords and agreements, 2015–2025
✏️ Map to sketch in the exam · Peace accords in the North-East, 2015–2025
- Shade: Assam = Bodo 2020, Karbi 2021, Adivasi 2022, DNLA and ULFA 2023
- Shade: Tripura, Mizoram = NLFT 2019, Bru 2020, NLFT–ATTF 2024
- Shade: Nagaland, Manipur = Naga Framework 2015 (pending), UNLF 2023
- Legend: boundary pacts: Assam–Meghalaya 2022, Assam–Arunachal 2023
Draw on India's official outline (Survey of India boundary).
- Naga (2015): the Framework Agreement with NSCN (I-M); the final settlement is still pending.
- Tripura and Mizoram: NLFT (2019), the Bru–Reang resettlement agreement (2020) and NLFT–ATTF (2024).
- Assam: the Bodo Accord (January 2020) with a ₹1,500 crore development package; Karbi Anglong (2021); Adivasi groups (2022); DNLA (2023); and the ULFA settlement (December 2023), under which ULFA agreed to abjure violence, surrender arms and disband.
- Manipur: the UNLF agreement (November 2023), the first valley-based armed group to return to the mainstream.
- Boundaries and AFSPA: Assam–Meghalaya (2022) and Assam–Arunachal (2023) boundary pacts; by April 2025 AFSPA was gone from Tripura and Meghalaya, down to 3 districts in Assam and lifted from 13 police stations in Manipur.
- Border: in March 2024 the CCS approved in principle fencing the remaining Indo-Myanmar border.
What remains unfinished
- Pending: the final Naga settlement, reconciliation in Manipur, time-bound delivery of accord promises (councils, funds, cadre rehabilitation) and Myanmar border management.
Accords have shrunk violence; durable peace now depends on implementing them in letter and spirit and reconciling communities, not only armed groups, so that the North-East becomes India's bridge to South-East Asia, not its frontier.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
