The Centre and the Manipur government on Thursday signed an agreement with Kuki-Zo groups to renew the Suspension of Operations pact with revised rules.

This comes amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur in September for the first time since the ethnic clashes broke out in the state.

The Suspension of Operations agreement was signed between the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits – the Kuki National Organisation and United Peoples Front – in 2008.

Under the agreement, the security forces as well as the militant groups are prohibited from launching operations. The militant groups must abide by the laws of the land and are also confined to designated camps identified by the central government.

On Thursday, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the Kuki-Zo groups have agreed to maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur under the re-negotiated ground rules of the tripartite Suspension of Operations pact.

The Kuki groups also agreed to open National Highway-2, which was blocked for Meiteis for more than two years since the ethnic clashes broke out in the state on May 3, 2023. The National Highway-2 runs from Dibrugarh in Assam to Tuipang in Mizoram.

Manipur has been embroiled in ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that have killed at least 260 persons and displaced more than 59,000 persons since May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024.

President’s Rule was imposed in February after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.

The BJP leader had stepped down amid allegations from Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups that his response to the violence was partisan and that he had stoked majoritarianism.

The Kuki-Zo groups had demanded a separate administration for the community as a condition for peace talks.

In October, Kuki-Zo MLAs expressed confidence in the Kuki National Organisation and the United Peoples Front armed groups and confirmed that they had no additional demands other than their own Union territory with a legislature.

The home ministry stated that during the meeting, the Kuki National Organisations and United Peoples Front also agreed to relocate seven designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict, reduce the number of designated camps and surrender weapons.

Further, they agreed that stringent physical verification of cadres should be done by security forces to de-list foreign nationals.

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