Apex Kuki body to reopen vital National Highway in Manipur, SoO deal extended by one year

New Delhi/Imphal: In a significant development, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), an apex body of the tribal community, on Thursday announced it would facilitate the movement of vehicles and people along the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway (NH-2), one of the lifelines of Manipur.

A senior official said that the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Kuki militants has also been extended for one more year after a tripartite meeting between the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Manipur government, and leaders of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF).

The official said that the KZC has decided to open the National Highway-2 for the free movement of commuters and essential goods.

“The decision came after a series of meetings between officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and a delegation of KZC in the last few days in New Delhi. The KZC has given a commitment to cooperate with security forces deployed by the GoI to maintain peace along NH-2,” an official statement said.

It said that a tripartite meeting among representatives of the MHA, the Manipur government and the KNO and the UPF was also held at New Delhi on Thursday.

“The meeting concluded with the signing of a tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement on re-negotiated terms and conditions (ground rules) to be effective from the day of signing of the Agreement for a period of one year,” the statement said.

Among other provisions, the revised ground rules reiterated the territorial integrity of Manipur and the need for a negotiated solution to bring lasting peace and stability to the state.

According to the statement, the KNO and UPF have also agreed to relocate seven designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict, reduce the number of designated camps, relocate the weapons to the nearest CRPF and BSF camps, ensure stringent physical verification of cadres by security forces to de-list foreign nationals, if any.

A Joint Monitoring Group would henceforth closely monitor enforcement of ground rules, and violations will be dealt with firmly in future, including review of the SoO Agreement, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the KZC in a statement on Thursday said that the MHA has expressed serious concern over commuter safety on NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur) through Kangpokpi district, and it “hereby clarifies that no untoward incident has occurred either to commuters or to transportation of essential goods on NH-2 in the recent past”.

“However, the Kuki-Zo Council would like to request MHA to deploy central security forces to ensure safety for commuters and transportation of essential goods along NH-2. In accordance with the resolution adopted in the Kangpokpi Public Meeting on July 29 (2025), the Kuki-Zo Council appeals to the public in Kangpokpi District to cooperate with security forces, deployed by the government of India, in their efforts to provide security to commuters and transportation of essential goods on NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur),” said the statement, signed by eight KZC leaders.

The UPF and the KNO, which are a conglomerate of 23 underground outfits, signed an SoO with the government on August 22, 2008, and 2,266 cadres of the militant outfits have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur’s hill regions.

The state’s majority Meitei community, however, has been opposing any extension of the SoO agreement with the Kuki militant outfits.

Over 260 people were killed, 1,500 injured, and over 70,000 displaced after the ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities on May 3, 2023, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after N. Biren Singh quit as Chief Minister on February 9.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.

IANS