Protected Area Permit (PAP) - Is It Killing Nagaland Tourism?

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you about the PAP issue (Protected Area Permit) which is now required again for foreigners to apply to enter Nagaland (since Dec. 2024).

As a foreigner visiting Nagaland for the past 10 years without any issues (except for Aug. 2025 as I couldn’t apply PAP but was allowed to enter), I find it sad that it is has become so difficult to visit Nagaland, a beautiful and peaceful state of India.

I do know Nagaland as I am married to an indigenous Naga woman and have been living in Nagaland for extended time.

I actually don’t mind applying for PAP and ILP but the real issue is that applying for PAP is restricted to people already in India and cannot be applied beforehand.

Due to GEO block of e-FRRO homepage where PAP must be applied, it is only possible to access after arriving in India, however no tourists have the luxury of spending up to 2 weeks in India hoping to get the PAP and then buy flight tickets to Dimapur – tourist will go somewhere else.

So is Nagaland going to be a “no-go for foreigners”?

Is Hornbill Festival 2025 going to lack foreign tourists spending a lot of money supporting the Naga economy and future income?

I don’t have the answer but hopefully the PAP regime will be lifted more than the 10 days for Hornbill 2025, which was just announced on November 29.

The above is thoughts and concerns about the future of Nagaland.

William Kerhuo