Patna (TIP)- More than two years after ethnic strife singed Manipur, leaving over 200 dead and 60,000 displaced, the Centre on Thursday, Sept 4, signed a tripartite agreement for one year with the Manipur Government and Kuki-Zo groups to restore peace in the state. The significant development comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Manipur on September 13, his first since the 2023 violence.
The pact entails maintaining the territorial integrity of the state and relocating militant camps.
The Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, which had been lying in cold storage for the past 18 months (since February 29, 2024, when the Manipur Government had withdrawn from it), was signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Manipur Government and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) as well as United People’s Front (UPF) on re-negotiated ground rules, which will be effective from the day of the signing of the agreement for a period of one year, official sources said.
The MHA said the KNO and the UPF also agreed to relocate seven designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict and also to reduce their numbers. They also agreed to a stringent physical verification of their cadres by the security forces to delist foreign nationals, if any.
The groups also agreed to surrender weapons with the nearest CRPF and BSF camps, the sources said.
The Joint Monitoring Group (of all stakeholders) will closely monitor the enforcement of the ground rules, and violations would be dealt with firmly in future, including review of the SoO agreement, they said. The parties agreed upon the need for a negotiated solution to bring lasting peace and stability to Manipur.