Towards Normalcy

A fresh pact between New Delhi and two powerful Kuki insurgent groups finally opens a narrow path towards peace in Manipur. The Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front have signed a renegotiated ‘Suspension of Operations’ (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the Manipur government. The deal requires militants to move camps away from Meitei settlements, deposit weapons with federal forces and submit to tighter verification. Crucially, they pledged to respect the territorial integrity of Manipur.

The agreement comes days before Narendra Modi’s first visit to Manipur since ethnic clashes erupted in May 2023. For the Prime Minister, it is an opportunity to show progress in a state paralysed by distrust between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo. For ordinary Manipuris, the pact could mark the start of relief from months of violence, curfews and economic blockade.

Delhi paired the deal with a claim that the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) had agreed to open NH-02, a key highway linking Imphal to Dimapur, for free passage of commuters and essential goods. Symbolically, this matters as much as the insurgent truce. For several months now, buffer zones manned by security forces have kept communities apart, while travellers risked harassment or worse when passing through rival areas. A functioning highway restores not just trade but the possibility of contact across the divide.

As with most things in Manipur, the optimism was quickly tempered. Within hours, the KZC clarified that it had never shut the highway, and that its appeal to locals in Kangpokpi district should not be mistaken as approval for unrestricted movement across buffer zones. The hedging revealed how delicate even small gestures remain. Yet the willingness to cooperate with security forces along the route marked a departure from last year’s open hostility.

Not all groups are on board. The Zomi Council, a long-standing organisation in Churachandpur, protested that it was excluded from the talks, accusing the government of privileging the newer KZC and sowing division. The United Naga Council, representing Manipur’s Nagas, has announced a trade embargo in protest at border fencing with Myanmar. Still, the very fact that grievances are being channelled through negotiations, embargoes and statements rather than gunfire is itself progress.

The PM’s visit is as much about optics as policy. His long silence on Manipur was read as indifference. Sustaining the peace momentum requires concrete security guarantees that allows for inclusive dialogue and development that reaches beyond Imphal into the hills.

Even so, there is reason to be guardedly hopeful. If militants stay in their camps, if weapons remain deposited, if highways remain passable, a measure of normalcy could return. Each concession, however small, chips away at the paralysis of mistrust.

Manipur’s tragedy has been its descent into silos, with each community barricaded from the other. The opening of NH-02 could act as a bridge between warring communities. If the Centre can sustain this momentum, the return of free movement could pave the way for freer politics as well.