Centre committed to resolve all border disputes, settle peace accords in North East region

Government has been making continuous efforts to end insurgency and violence in the North Eastern region of India. Several efforts have been made for the overall development of the region.
The Central government has identified three core objectives for the North East Region:
a.    to preserve its dialects, languages, dance, music, food, and culture and to create attraction for it all across India;
b.    to end all disputes in the North East and to make it a peaceful region,
c.    to make the North East a developed region and bring it on par with the rest of India
Various border dispute settlement agreements and peace accords have been signed with relevant stakeholders. Further, with the help of the armed forces, satellite camps of insurgent groups operating from foreign soil have also been neutralized at scale.

In numerous border incidents, various border dispute agreements have been adhered to, successfully maintaining peace, and preventing conflict. Even, Peace Accords have been signed with relevant stakeholders. Satellite camps of insurgent groups operating from foreign soil have also been neutralized to a large scale
Border disputes between various states in Northeast which have been recurring since the 1960s have been a major concern in the development of the region. 
Long pending disputes between various states in the Northeast had been a major concern in the development of the region. These disputes are finally getting permanently resolved through the proactive efforts of the Central government. This has given a push to integration and trust and has paved the way forward for long-term peace and progress.

To resolve the five-decade old Bodo issue in Assam, the Bodo Accord was signed on January 27, 2020 resulting in the surrender of 1615 cadres with a huge cache of arms and ammunition at Guwahati.

A landmark agreement was signed on January 16, 2020, to resolve the 23-year-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis by which more than 37,000 internally displaced people are being settled in Tripura.
 After several years of negotiations with the Government of India and the Government of Assam, an agreement was signed with National Liberation Front of Tripura (SD) in August 2019 resulting in the surrender of 88 cadres with 44 weapons.
To resolve the long-running dispute in the Karbi regions of Assam, the Karbi Anglong Agreement was signed on September 04, 2021, in which more than 1000 armed cadres renounced violence and joined the mainstream of society.

A landmark agreement was signed on March 29, 2022, to settle the dispute over six areas out of a total of twelve areas of the interstate boundary dispute between the states of Assam and Meghalaya. This agreement alone resolved around 65 per cent of border disputes between the two states.

As a result of the border dispute settlement agreements and peace accords, there has been a significant improvement in the security situation of the Northeast. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been reduced from a large part of the North East, fulfilling the long-standing and sentimental demand of the North Eastern states.

The security situation in the North-Eastern states has considerably improved since 2014. The year 2019 and 2020 witnessed the lowest number of insurgency incidents and casualties of civilians and security forces during the last two decades. 
In the last two years, 4,900 militants have surrendered. Overall, a total of 6000 militants have surrendered since 2014.

Government is focused on promoting all-round development of the Northeastern region. As initiatives over the past years reveal, development, peace and prosperity have been the top priorities for the Central Government. Government’s vision for an “Insurgency free, prosperous Northeast can be seen in a range of initiatives it has undertaken for the upliftment and development of Northeast. Government’s thrust to improving air connectivity in the Northeastern region is also an integral part of the ‘Act East’ policy and will fill a critical gap in this sector. The NER District SDG Index & Dashboard, a collaborative effort by NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP, is the first of its kind in the country as it concentrates exclusively on the Northeast.

The total earmarked funds under 10% gross budgetary support from 54 Central Ministries for expenditure on development works in the North East have been increased by 110% from Rs 36,108 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 76,040 crore in 2022-23. A new scheme, The Prime Minister's Development Initiative for the North-East (PM-DevINE), was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 with an initial allocation of Rs 1,500 crore.

 ‘Act East Policy’ announced in November 2014 is the upgrade of the ‘Look East Policy’ which was promulgated in 1992. The Objective of ''Act East Policy” is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels thereby providing enhanced connectivity to the States of North Eastern Region with other countries in our neighbourhood. The Act East policy is playing an instrumental role in bringing a paradigm shift and marking a significant change in the potential role of the North-East region.
 
In the past, Government policies and their implementation had proved inadequate for giving shape to the immense inherent potential of the North East region. Over the last eight years, the Union Government has been extremely responsive to the needs of this region, by making enhanced connectivity, improved infrastructure and people’s welfare part of its core development agenda. From being on the margins of the India story, the Northeast is quickly becoming one of the country’s growth engines.