Overview

• New tripartite SoO signed on September 4 by the Centre, Manipur government, and KNO/UPF runs for one year and reiterates Manipur’s territorial integrity and a negotiated path to peace.
• KNO and UPF agreed to relocate seven designated camps, reduce their number, deposit weapons at nearby CRPF/BSF camps and undergo stringent physical verification of cadres under a joint monitoring group.
• After the MHA framed NH-2 as opened for free movement, KNO/UPF and the Kuki-Zo Council said the highway was never closed and stressed that buffer zones remain sacrosanct and unrestricted travel should not be assumed.
• Meitei civil bodies including COCOMI and AMUCO condemned the SoO extension as illegitimate and unsafe, and groups such as Meitei Heritage Society called the MHA’s highway claim misleading.
• Grassroots Kuki actors like the Village Volunteers’ Coordinating Committee and the UKNA denounced the NH-2 announcement and warned Meitei entry into Kuki-majority areas remains barred, even as Manipur’s chief secretary said the agreements will be honoured and strictly implemented.