Security concerns in Nagaland are no longer limited to insurgency, with extortion, factionalism, narcotics, illicit arms, organised crime and cross-border networks emerging as issues requiring attention, a security dialogue in Kohima heard.
The issues were discussed at the Nagaland pre-event of the North Eastern Regional Dialogue on Internal Security (NERDIS-2026) organised by the Centre for Internal Security Analysis (CISA) in collaboration with Nagaland University, according to an update received here from CISA.
The dialogue brought together security and police professionals, academics, researchers, development experts and policy practitioners to discuss Nagaland’s peace and security situation.
Participants noted that large-scale insurgent violence has declined significantly, but said maintaining the relative peace would require attention to residual armed networks, factionalism, extortion and coercive financing, narcotics and illicit arms flows, organised crime and cross-border linkages.
The discussions also turned to the India–Myanmar border, with participants examining how security concerns could be balanced with the longstanding social, cultural and economic ties of Naga communities living on both sides of the border.
Border connectivity, regulated movement, legitimate trade, tourism and infrastructure were discussed in the context of both security and economic opportunities, including under the Act East Policy.
The dialogue also called for greater coordination among security and government agencies, intelligence-led prevention, action against narcotics and organised crime, rehabilitation and reintegration of former armed actors, and stronger community-level mechanisms for identifying potential conflicts early.
Local and customary institutions were also identified as having a role in maintaining peace and responding to emerging security concerns.
Disaster preparedness and community resilience featured in the discussions as part of the State’s wider security concerns.
The dialogue ended with participants stressing that the relative peace in Nagaland would need to be sustained alongside efforts to create jobs, entrepreneurship, connectivity and other economic opportunities.
CISA said the Nagaland event is part of its wider NERDIS-2026 initiative, which seeks to bring together government, security forces, police, academia, civil society, customary bodies and communities to discuss internal security and peace-building.