A resolution of one of the oldest armed ethnic conflicts in the Northeast offers a way forward to resolving many other ethnic conflicts in the region such as those involving Kukis, Meiteis, Bodos, Dimasas, Hmars, and Karbis.

The security audit should be done in a realistic frame and may include some interlocutors and officers of the C&AG`s department given their understanding of the functioning of the state government machinery at various tiers as well as their independence of approach.

Obtaining Myanmar’s help to counter covert Chinese connections with insurgent groups like the UWSA and by extension with anti-India militant groups such as the NSCN (K) is important for long term stability in the Northeast.

These repeated incidents of border trouble and deaths bring into sharp focus the lack of serious border law enforcement. It is, therefore, critical that we do four important policy interventions fast.

Widespread problems have made the operating environment ‘dysfunctional and inefficient’. Some of this is on account of inscrutable issues like ‘integration of the services with the MoD’ or ‘civil-military relations’ but, in large part, the immediate problem lies with MoD’s inability to resolve more mundane issues.

The Centre must reiterate its commitment to uphold the Constitutional provisions enshrined in Article 371, expand the scope of the Sixth Schedule, and empower the autonomous council institutions in the North-East.

To prevent the recurring violence in Bodo areas, establish a land record system, improve the presence of both the state civil administration and the law enforcement agencies, and collate credible data on the flow of migrants.