India’s northeastern states have historically faced both a distinct set of insurgency-related security challenges and a persistent infrastructure development gap relative to the rest of the country. This article looks at how the Modi government has approached both issues, through peace accords aimed at ending decades-old conflicts and dedicated funding schemes aimed at closing the infrastructure gap.
The Scale of Peace Accords Signed
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha in March 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that 12 significant peace accords had been signed across the Northeast since 2014, according to reporting by both ANI and Business Standard, with more than 10,900 insurgents and former militant-affiliated youths having surrendered arms as part of these agreements, a scale of conflict resolution the government has consistently pointed to as one of its most significant regional security achievements.
The Bodo Accord and the ULFA Settlement
Among the most prominent individual agreements, the Bodo Accord was signed in January 2020, addressing a long-running insurgency and political demand centred in Assam’s Bodo-inhabited areas. More recently, a tripartite Memorandum of Settlement with the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam, ULFA, was signed on December 29, 2023, according to coverage by Organiser, a settlement the government has described as ushering in what officials called “a new era of peace and stability” for the region, alongside separate peace agreements covering the Karbi Anglong and Dimasa areas of Assam, analysed in detail by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
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Why These Accords Haven’t Fully Resolved the Underlying Conflicts
Despite this substantial accord-signing record, independent analysis has flagged that implementation and full conflict resolution remain incomplete in important respects. Borderlens’ analysis of the Assam-ULFA situation specifically noted that ULFA’s hardline faction, led by Paresh Baruah, remains outside the 2023 settlement entirely, meaning the accord addressed only part of the broader insurgent movement rather than achieving a fully comprehensive resolution. A Deccan Herald editorial separately flagged what it described as “loose ends” in the newer Assam-related accord, while opposition politicians, including Congress leader Ripun Bora, have characterised some of the state government’s more recent accord-related moves as, in his words, a “political gimmick” timed ahead of Assam’s 2026 assembly elections, according to Deccan Herald’s coverage of his criticism, illustrating how even genuine security achievements can become entangled in state-level electoral politics.
The PM-DevINE Funding Scheme
Beyond security agreements, the government has directed dedicated development funding toward the region through several specific schemes. The Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region, PM-DevINE, was launched in the 2022-23 budget with an initial allocation of Rs 1,500 crore, subsequently approved by the Cabinet at a larger Rs 6,600 crore for the remaining four years of the 15th Finance Commission period running through 2025-26, according to a Prime Minister’s Office press release on the Cabinet approval. The Union Budget for 2025-26 provided a further Rs 5,915 crore boost specifically for the Northeast, with PM-DevINE and regional connectivity projects receiving particular emphasis, according to the Assam Tribune’s coverage of the budget allocation.
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The North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme
A separate, longer-running infrastructure programme, the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme, established in 2017, has an approved outlay of Rs 8,139.50 crore, according to figures compiled by Adda247 citing government data, funding specific physical infrastructure projects across the region’s states, a scheme that predates but has continued running alongside the newer PM-DevINE initiative, together representing a sustained, multi-scheme funding commitment to the region’s development that has continued across multiple budget cycles rather than being a single one-time allocation.
Why This Combined Approach Matters
Taken together, the security and development tracks are designed to reinforce each other: sustained insurgency historically discouraged the kind of private investment and infrastructure development the region badly needed, while a persistent development gap has, in turn, been cited by security analysts as one of the underlying grievances that helped sustain several of the region’s decades-old insurgent movements in the first place, meaning progress on either track in isolation, security without development or development without security, would likely have proven considerably harder to sustain than pursuing both simultaneously, as the government’s combined accord-and-funding approach has attempted.
Bottom Line
The Modi government’s approach to the Northeast has combined a substantial peace-accord programme, with 12 agreements signed since 2014 and over 10,900 insurgents laying down arms according to the government’s own figures, alongside dedicated development funding through schemes including PM-DevINE and the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme worth thousands of crores combined, a genuine dual-track approach to the region’s historical security and development challenges, even as independent analysis has flagged that some accords, including the 2023 ULFA settlement, remain incomplete given the continued presence of holdout factions outside the agreed framework.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region data and news reports listed below. It is written for general informational purposes and does not represent an official statement from the Government of India.
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