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NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the entire northeast region, barring one or two states, may be out of purview of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act by next year.Speaking at the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) among the Centre, govt of Assam and govt of Nagaland for oil and mineral exploration along the Assam-Nagaland border, Shah said that in PM Narendra Modi’s efforts to establish lasting peace and push development in the north-east, a dozen peace pacts had been signed since 2019, with violent incidents down 80% and the total area under AFSPA shrinking by 80%.He said the agreement on exploration of oil and mineral in the disputed area belt (DAB) on the Assam-Nagaland border, which was stalled for over three decades due to jurisdictional issues, would take northeast towards further progress and also help make the country self-reliant in meeting its energy requirements, especially when India and the entire world are facing an energy crisis due to the ongoing tensions in West Asia.“With just one MoU, the extraction capacity of 1,000-1,500 barrels per day can be increased by 10 times,” Shah said.
