Explained: Why Nagaland wants to replace PAP with a new system

Kohima: Nagaland is not asking the Centre to stop monitoring foreign visitors. It is asking whether that monitoring can be done differently.

That distinction was at the heart of the Nagaland government’s argument in the Assembly on September 3, when legislators unanimously urged the Centre to review and withdraw the Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime.

“The Government of Nagaland fully recognises and respects the responsibility of the Government of India in matters of national security, border management and the regulation of foreign nationals. National security is paramount, and there can be no compromise on the sovereignty, integrity and security of our nation. However, security and development need not be opposing objectives.

“Regulations must evolve with changing realities. Policies must respond to present-day circumstances. And mechanisms created for one period of history should not become permanent barriers to the aspirations of future generations,” Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio opened his remarks.

He said Nagaland today was “very different” from the state of several decades ago and pointed to the sharp decline in incidents linked to underground groups as evidence of the change.

According to figures cited by Rio, more than 257 incidents related to underground activities were recorded between 2004 and 2009, resulting in over 120 casualties among underground cadres and civilians, besides six casualties among security forces.

In contrast, he said, only eight incidents relating to armed groups were recorded between 2021 and 2026, resulting in four casualties among underground cadres and civilians and one casualty among security forces.

“The comparative figures do not lie,” Rio said, describing the state’s transition from years of violence to its present period of relative peace as a “long-drawn and arduous journey”.

The chief minister also cited crime statistics to reinforce his argument.

According to National Crime Records Bureau data cited in his speech, Nagaland recorded a cognisable crime rate of 61.6 per lakh population in 2024, compared with the national rate of 418.8 per lakh population.

Rio further cited a crime rate against women of 5.1 per lakh population in Nagaland, against a national rate of 64.6.

He also pointed to the Nagaland stretch of the India-Myanmar border, saying the area had remained peaceful and that there had been no reported influx of refugees into the state from across the border.

For Rio, the question is therefore whether a security regime applied to Nagaland should continue unchanged despite what he described as a fundamentally different situation.

The PAP regime was reinforced in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram through a Union Ministry of Home Affairs order dated December 17, 2024. The PAP requirement was relaxed in Nagaland from January 1, 2011, initially for one year and subsequently extended repeatedly.

The economic calculation

The chief minister’s central concern was the economic cost of the restrictions.

Nagaland, he said, has limited industrialisation, a small domestic market, difficult terrain and infrastructure constraints, making sectors such as tourism particularly important to its economic future.

“Tourism is an economy,” Rio said, arguing that its benefits extend beyond hotels and tourist destinations to homestays, restaurants, transport operators, guides, farmers, artisans, musicians, performers and entrepreneurs.

He cited a government survey conducted during the 2023 Hornbill Festival, which recorded more than Rs 2.76 crore in hotel accommodation revenue over 10 days. The figure, he said, demonstrated how tourism spending spreads into the wider economy.

The state’s growing tourism profile has been closely linked to the Hornbill Festival, which Rio described as having evolved from a cultural event into an economic and international engagement platform.

The festival will hold its 27th edition in December 2026.

According to figures cited by the chief minister, the festival attracted just over 28,000 visitors in 2010. By 2025, the footfall had crossed 214,000. The festival also hosted three country partners in 2023, increasing to seven nations in 2025, Rio said.

He argued that the PAP therefore has consequences beyond the movement of individual tourists.

“Business and Investment Roundtables conducted during the Festival have opened doors for partnerships in tourism, agriculture, education, human resource development, technology, culture and the creative economy. This is why the continuation of the Protected Area Permit regime has implications far beyond the inconvenience faced by a tourist. It affects tourism. It affects investment. It affects international partnerships. It affects cultural exchanges. It affects diplomatic participation. And ultimately, it affects the opportunities available to our own people,” Rio said.

The chief minister pointed to the experience of the 2025 Hornbill Festival to argue that temporary exemptions are insufficient.

Although the state welcomed the relaxation of PAP during the festival, Rio said it came too close to the event to allow international visitors, investors, artists, institutions and diplomatic missions to plan effectively. “International travel cannot be planned overnight,” he said.

Visitors, he noted, need time to arrange visas, flights, accommodation and official approvals, while investors and international institutions often plan engagements months in advance.

The state, he said, therefore needs a more permanent arrangement rather than temporary relaxations announced immediately before major events.

Rio also cited foreign visitor numbers at Kisama, saying the number rose from 284 in 2010 to 2,528 in 2025, with much of the increase occurring between 2011 and 2023 when the PAP requirement was relaxed.

What legislators think

One of Nagaland’s first female ministers, Hekani Jakhalu Kense, recalled that when she attended the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, one remark by a young entrepreneur stayed with her.

The young man, speaking about the opportunities before his generation, said India was at a defining moment and that he did not want to “miss the bus”. For Kense, the phrase came to represent something much bigger: the fear that Nagaland’s young people could miss the same opportunity.

Speaking in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the Advisor for Industries and Commerce asked what would happen if Nagaland’s youth were left behind while the rest of India moved towards the Centre’s vision of a developed India by 2047.

Her answer was tied to an issue the state government has increasingly linked to its economic ambitions: the Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime. “Every young man and young woman of our state has the same aspiration as that young man of Gujarat,” Kense said.

The question, she told the House, was what would happen if Nagaland’s young people “miss this bus”.

The state is already investing in skills, sending young people abroad for work and training, promoting tourism, courting investors and using the Hornbill Festival to build international connections. But Kense fears that negative perceptions, compounded by restrictive policies, could discourage investors and limit the opportunities available to young people.

Tourism minister Temjen Imna Along said Nagaland should not automatically be treated in the same manner as neighbouring states because the security circumstances are different. He pointed to the violence witnessed in Manipur in recent years and the influx-related concerns faced by Mizoram, arguing that Nagaland has remained comparatively peaceful.

The minister also highlighted the importance of Nagaland’s Christian heritage and churches, stating that restrictions on foreign visitors can affect religious and cultural activities. Referring to difficulties faced by foreign visitors during major events, including the Hornbill Festival, he said such incidents had hurt the sentiments of the people of Nagaland.

Along further invoked Article 371(A) of the Constitution, saying that the special constitutional provision recognises and protects the state’s unique heritage, culture and customary practices. He appealed to the Centre to give Nagaland “a good chance” by reconsidering the PAP regime and allowing the State Government to take a greater role in managing foreign visitors.

Expressing confidence in the Centre-State relationship, Along said Nagaland and the BJP-led Union Government have maintained a political partnership for more than two decades and expressed hope that the Centre would positively consider the concerns of the state.

MLA Naiba Konyak, participating in the discussion, urged the Government of India to completely withdraw the PAP requirement from the state. He said Nagaland has its own unique circumstances and expressed concern that continued restrictions on foreign visitors could adversely affect the state’s tourism and broader development prospects.

Nagaland proposes technology-based monitoring

“Technology today gives us the means to achieve both security and ease of travel. The State Government is prepared to put in place a robust technology-driven mechanism for the registration and monitoring of foreign visitors,” Chief Minister Rio proposed.

Under the proposed system, passport and visa details, travel itineraries, accommodation information and duration of stay could be digitally recorded and shared with authorised security and administrative agencies.

District administrations, police authorities and tourism agencies could operate through an integrated mechanism, he said.

“Our request is not for the absence of regulation. Our request is for better regulation,” Rio said.

He argued that such a system would allow genuine visitors to enter Nagaland while ensuring that security agencies retain access to relevant information.

On September 3, 2026, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Government of India to urgently review and withdraw the PAP regime presently applicable to Nagaland, or restore the relaxation that had earlier been in operation.

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