Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA will be withdrawn from most of the Northeast region in 2027, barring one or two states.
Speaking at the signing of a tripartite MoU between the Centre, Assam, and Nagaland, Shah said that the shrinking of areas covered under AFSPA is an indicator of peace.
The MoU aims to facilitate mineral oil operations in the Assam-Nagaland boundary areas and has removed the last hurdle in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a developed Northeast.
Shah said that the MoU will open new avenues for mineral exploration in the Northeast, which has huge mineral deposits that could not be explored due to law and order issues.
The extraction capacity of 1,000-1,500 barrels per day can be increased by 10 times, and there are possibilities of recovery of more than ₹15,000 crore in one field alone.
Since 2019, 12 accords have been signed between various groups and state governments, resulting in a significant drop of around 80% in incidents of violence in the region.
The MoU is expected to provide fresh momentum to India's pursuit of energy self-reliance and is an example of cooperative federalism and coordinated efforts between the Centre and state governments to unlock the economic potential of the Northeast.
