Retired IB officer to lead peace talks with Naga, Kuki-Zo groups as MHA’s Northeast Adviser

Ajit Lal, a 1974 batch retired Indian Police Service officer and former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), has been appointed as the Northeast Adviser to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, a senior government official told The Hindu. In 2014, he was succeeded as JIC chief by R.N. Ravi, now the Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Lal, 73, was appointed as JIC chief under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) in 2011 for a period of three years which ended in July 2014. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in May 2014, the MHA, under then-Home Minister Rajnath Singh, recommended Mr. Lal’s name as the interlocutor for Naga peace talks. The NSCS, which reports to the National Security Adviser (NSA) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), however, overruled the MHA’s recommendation and instead appointed Mr. Ravi as the interlocutor. He continued in the position till September 2021, when he was appointed Tamil Nadu Governor.

In his new role, Mr. Lal will not only lead the Naga peace talks but also continue the dialogue with the Kuki-Zo and Meitei insurgent groups in Manipur.

Experienced negotiator

He replaces A.K Mishra, a retired IPS officer and former special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), who was appointed as the MHA’s Northeast adviser in 2021.

Mr. Lal, who hails from the Himachal Pradesh cadre, also served as an IB special director from 2008 to 2011. He is an old hand at the Naga political talks, having led the peace talks from March to July 2014.

According to his LinkedIn page, his work at the time included “negotiations with an armed insurgent group to persuade them to give up violence and become a part of the mainstream political system.”

On February 5, Mr. Lal and Mr. Mishra were both present at the signing of the tripartite agreement for the creation of Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) that was signed between Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), the Nagaland government, and the MHA. The agreement paved the way for the creation of FNTA for six districts of Nagaland — Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak, and Shamator — and devolution of powers to the FNTA with regard to 46 subjects.

Change of guard

At a February 4 meeting in Delhi with the Kui-Zo insurgent groups in a suspension of operations (SoO) pact with the government, Mr. Mishra informed the participants about the change of guard.

Mr. Lal’s appointment comes at a crucial time when President’s Rule has been revoked in Manipur and a new Chief Minister has been installed. The culmination of the Naga peace talks and the SoO pact with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups, which has the potential to impact political and security dynamics in the Northeast, are among the key priorities of the BJP-led Union government.

The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), which signed a framework agreement with the Indian government in 2015 under Mr. Ravi, is demanding the creation of ‘Greater Nagaland’ or ‘Nagalim’ by integrating Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh to unite 1.2 million Nagas.

After the May 3, 2023 ethnic violence between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo people in Manipur, the Kuki-Zo insurgent groups or the SoO groups are pressing for a Union Territory with legislature for the community. In peace talks since 2008 following the Naga-Kuki clashes in the 1990s when hundreds were killed, the SoO groups had settled for territorial autonomy in Manipur till the ethnic violence erupted in 2023.