Photo Courtesy: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay | For representational Purpose only
CISA holds Nagaland pre-event of North Eastern Regional Dialogue on Internal Security 2026
Dimapur, August 21 (MExN): The evolving security landscape of Nagaland necessitates a departure from traditional counter-insurgency methods, according to experts and officials who participated at a pre-event of the North Eastern Regional Dialogue on Internal Security (NERDIS-2026).
Organised by the Centre for Internal Security Analysis (CISA), the dialogue brought together security practitioners, police professionals, academics, development experts, researchers and policy makers to “examine the evolving peace, security, border, and development landscape of Nagaland.”
The dialogue focused on Nagaland’s transition from prolonged insurgency towards relative peace and the emerging challenges involved in making this peace durable, an update received here stated.
While large-scale insurgent violence has significantly declined, speakers underscored that sustaining stability now requires a multi-pronged approach. They stressed the need for deeper attention to conflict-recurrence prevention, residual armed networks, factionalism, extortion and coercive financing, narcotics and illicit arms flows, organised crime, cross-border linkages and emerging security vulnerabilities.
A key message that emerged from the deliberations was that “Nagaland’s security can no longer be addressed only through conventional counter-insurgency approaches.” It must increasingly involve intelligence-led prevention, stronger inter-agency coordination, countering terror-financing, counter-narcotics action, organised-crime disruption, rehabilitation and reintegration, responsive governance, community-based early warning, and meaningful participation of local and customary institutions.
The dialogue also examined the changing nature of the India–Myanmar border, highlighting the need to “balance national security and regulated mobility with longstanding Naga kinship, cultural, social, and economic relationships across the frontier.”
Sessions emphasised how border connectivity, legitimate trade, tourism, infrastructure, community participation, and India’s Act East Policy can be harnessed as instruments of both security and economic opportunity.
Disaster preparedness and community resilience were also identified as integral components of Nagaland’s wider human and internal security architecture.
CISA positioned the event as part of its broader effort to serve as an independent research and policy platform working on complex internal security, peace-building, border governance, counterterrorism, and socio-economic challenges. Through dialogues such as NERDIS-2026, the centre seeks to act as a bridge between government, security forces, police, academia, development institutions, civil society, customary bodies, and local communities, while encouraging practical and locally informed approaches to peace and security.
The event concluded with a shared understanding that Nagaland’s peace is both an achievement and an ongoing responsibility. Protecting and deepening it will require preventing the re-emergence of organised violence while simultaneously converting the dividends of peace into employment, entrepreneurship, connectivity, resilient communities, stronger institutions, and sustainable economic opportunities.
The discussions underlined that lasting stability in Nagaland will depend on an approach that combines security, trust, development, community participation and opportunity.
