Centre signs ceasefire agreement with NSCN faction led by Nikki Sumi; What is NSCN?- Check details

The Ministry of Home Affairs informed that the Central Government on September 8, 2021, entered into a ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) Khaplang (K) led by Nikki Sumi for one year.

The Ministry further informed that with the signing of the agreement, more than 200 cadres of this group along with 83 weapons have joined the peace process. The agreement between the government and the NSCN faction will be applicable from September 8, 2021, for one year.

Reportedly, the ceasefire agreement was signed between the Additional secretary (Northeast) in MHA, Piyush Goyal, and the representatives of NSCN (K) Niki, supervisor of the ceasefire supervisory board Nikato Pilot Sumi, and a CFSB member Abel Zingru Thuer.

Nikki Sumi who had in December 2020 expressed his willingness to sign a ceasefire agreement with the government, was not able to present for the signing because of ill health.

In fulfilling vision of the PM Modi of ‘Insurgency free and prosperous North East’ & in significant boost to Naga peace process, Government of India enters into Ceasefire Agreement with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K)Niki Group

Press release-https://t.co/9wZywM9JSM pic.twitter.com/EiK3FmdJlR

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) September 8, 2021

Ceasefire agreement between government and NSCN (K) Nikki group: Why was it needed?

The Ministry of Home Affairs while informing about the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the Central Government and the NSCN (K) Nikki group said that the initiative aims at fulfilling Prime Minister Modi’s vision of ‘insurgency free and prosperous North East.

The move will also be significant for the Naga peace process under the guidance of Union Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah.

NSCN faction led by Nikki Sumi: What do we know?

The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) faction led by Nikki Sumi was floated by him after the death of S.S. Khaplang in 2017. Khaplang was the chief of NSCN (K) who passed away in 2017.

Nikki Sumi was a wanted accused with a reward of Rs. 10 lakh on his arrest by the National Investigation Agency in the case of killing 18 soldiers in Manipur in 2015. The NIA had then also announced a Rs. 7 lakh reward on the then chief of NSCN (K) S S Khaplang.

After Khaplang’s death in 2017, Nikki Sumi, who was the military commander of the group, was expelled from the outfit and its camp in Myanmar in 2019. Sumi later came up with his own group- NSCN (K) Nikki.

Intelligence agencies of the country have been trying to get Sumi to the negotiating table and the current ceasefire agreement is a step in the direction of engaging him over the Naga Peace Accord.

Ceasefire agreement between government and other factions of NSCN:

The Central Government has also signed ceasefire agreements with other factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland- NSCN (NK), NSCN (R), and NSCN (K)- Khango.

Framework agreement for Naga Peace Accord:

The framework agreement for Naga Peace Accord was signed between the Government and NSCN (IM) group.

NSCN (K) had unilaterally revoked the ceasefire with the government in March 2015, months before the framework agreement was signed.

Despite the signing of the Framework Agreement for the Naga Peace Accord in 2015, the Central Government has not been able to finalize the agreement.  

The Nagaland Peace Accord is a peace treaty that was signed on August 3, 2015, between the government and the NSCN in order to end the insurgency in Nagaland in Northeast India.