Ahead of PM Modi’s Manipur trip, officials set to meet Kuki-Zo groups

Union Home Ministry officials are all set to meet representatives of Kuki-Zo insurgent groups on Wednesday (September 3, 2025) to finalise the extension of the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement that has been in limbo since February 29, 2024, when the Manipur government pulled out of the tripartite pact, a government source told The Hindu on Tuesday (September 2, 2025).

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The move comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit to Manipur in the second week of September, as reported by The Hindu. This will be the Prime Minister’s first visit since May 2023 when ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern State.

The Kuki-Zo civil society groups are likely to agree to open two key National Highways — number 2 and 37 — ahead of the visit. The two highways, passing through Kuki-Zo-inhabited areas, are key to connecting the land-locked Imphal valley, where the Meitei people live, to Nagaland and Assam, respectively. They are critical for supply of essentials and other commodities but have been shut for the past two years for the movement of Meitei people.

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Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13.

The Home Ministry resumed talks with the Kuki-Zo SoO groups on June 9 after a gap of two years to renegotiate the SoO pact with stringent ground rules. One of the conditions is reduction in the number of SoO camps from the existing 14 to seven, away from Meitei- dominated areas.

On Wednesday (September 3, 2025), the insurgent groups will hold talks with A.K. Mishra, Adviser (Northeast), Home Ministry, and Intelligence Bureau officials.

Prior to May 3, 2023, when ethnic violence erupted in the State, the primary demand of the SoO groups was autonomous territorial councils within Manipur but after the violence, they changed the stance to demand a separate administration, defining it as a Union Territory with legislature.

The agreement in place since 2008 has been periodically extended each year except on February 29, 2024 when the Manipur government refused to extend the tripartite pact. The Home Ministry and SoO groups are the other two signatories.

Meitei groups have accused the armed SoO groups of armed attacks during and after the ethnic violence that has claimed the lives of 250 people and displaced more than 60,000 people from their homes.

The SoO groups have accused the Manipur government of using the State machinery against them.

Around 2,200 cadres of the SoO groups, comprising the United People’s Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) — umbrella organisations of 25 insurgent groups, live in 14 designated camps in the hill districts of Manipur.

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The cadres are entitled to a stipend of ₹6,000 per month which has not been paid since the violence erupted.

The SoO agreement was signed in wake of the Kuki-Naga clashes in the 1990s when hundreds were killed. The insurgent groups demanded an independent land for the Kuki-Zo people.

Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had claimed that SoO groups violated ground rules and instigated the ethnic violence.