After achieving considerable progress in curbing left-wing extremism (LWE) in the rest of the country, the Centre is gearing up to take a hard-er stand to deal with insurgency in Northeast India. According to officials who are aware of the plan, the government seeks to put insurgency under control by 2029 and Manipur will be the major target during the first phase.
The Centre will also move troops in the LWE-affected areas to insurgency-affected states, such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland, as part of the strategy. The re-structuring of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will commence once all the major engagements like the elections to the West Bengal assembly and the yearly Amarnath Yatra are over.
By the mid-2026, specialised forces that have been trained in guerrilla warfare such as the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) of CRPF are likely to be deployed in the Northeast. Nonetheless, the authorities were keen to note that the withdrawal of troops in LWE regions would be gradual and well coordinated to prevent the occurrence of security gap.
In anticipation of increased operations, the authorities in Manipur have already received the new mine-protected vehicles to be used in the high-risk zones. The area is still struggling with several insurgent groups, with approximately 16 active groups within the Northeast, eight of which are based in Manipur alone.
This new focus by the government is an indication of a larger initiative to stabilise the region, improve security infrastructure and deal with the long history of insurgency by means of co-ordinated military and administrative response.