Naga conflict

The Naga conflict is one of the oldest unresolved insurgencies in Asia, rooted in claims by Naga nationalists that the Naga people—an umbrella term for several tribes inhabiting parts of northeast India and northwest Myanmar—were never historically part of India and are entitled to self-determination. On 14 August 1947, a day before Indian independence, the Naga National Council (NNC) under Angami Zapu Phizo declared Naga independence. A subsequent NNC-organised plebiscite in 1951 claimed overwhelming support for sovereignty, though India did not recognise it.

Armed insurgency intensified after the mid-1950s, prompting New Delhi to deploy the army and, in 1958, enact the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which remains controversial for alleged human rights abuses. The state of Nagaland was created in 1963 as a political concession, but did not end the conflict. The Shillong Accord of 1975, in which a faction of the NNC accepted the Indian constitution, was rejected by hardliners who in 1980 founded the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). NSCN later split into rival factions, principally NSCN-IM (Isak-Muivah) and NSCN-K (Khaplang).

A ceasefire between the Indian government and NSCN-IM has held since 1997. In August 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and NSCN-IM signed a Framework Agreement, the text of which has not been made public; talks on a final settlement have continued without conclusion. Core sticking points include the NSCN-IM demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution, and for "Nagalim"—the integration of Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam into a single political unit, strongly opposed by those neighbouring states.

The conflict also has a cross-border dimension, as Naga groups operate in Myanmar's Sagaing Region, complicating India–Myanmar security cooperation.