Manipur SoO Pact Lapses: A Month On, Centre Silent as Naga-Kuki Violence Continues

A month after the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups lapsed, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is yet to extend it, even as violence continues between Naga and Kuki communities in Manipur.

The pact was last signed on September 4, 2025 by the MHA, the Manipur government and the Kuki-Zo groups on “re-negotiated terms and conditions or ground rules.” It has not been renewed. Government sources said the pact remains in abeyance until all weapons held by the Kuki-Zo groups are surrendered. The presence of a large number of weapons in civilian hands is one of the main drivers of violence and killings in the State, a government official said.

Naga and Meitei civil society groups, as well as Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho, have demanded that the pact be abrogated.

On September 30, during a review of the security situation in the State by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, it was decided to send 30 more companies of the CRPF (around 3,000 personnel) and two battalions of CoBRA (around 2,000 personnel) for deployment in Manipur, a senior government official said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to visit Senapati, a Naga-dominated district, on October 7. This will be his second visit to the State since the violence of 2023. He had visited Imphal in April 2024 to address a political rally ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Amid the Naga-Kuki tensions, more than 40 people have been killed in the Ukhrul, Kangpokpi and Kamjong districts since February 7, three days after President’s Rule was revoked in the State.

A member of a Kuki-Zo SoO group said the one-year agreement expired on September 4, but the groups were yet to hear anything from the MHA or from Ajit Lal, the MHA’s Adviser (Northeast) and the interlocutor for the peace talks.

“The last meeting the SoO groups had with the interlocutor was on April 30. He had said that he will meet us every quarter. There has been so much violence in the State since February and he has not visited the affected areas even once,” the member said.

The member said security forces conduct regular inspections of SoO camps and that all weapons are accounted for. “Not extending the SoO pact does not mean it has been abrogated. Maybe the government is waiting for the dust to settle down before making a formal announcement. We have not heard anything from the government so far,” the member said.

The tripartite pact was signed in 2008 by the United Peoples’ Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), a coalition of 24 insurgent groups, along with the MHA and the Manipur government, following the Kuki-Naga clashes of the 1990s in which hundreds were killed. The insurgent groups demanded an independent land for the Kuki-Zo people. The pact has been extended periodically since 2008.

After ethnic violence between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei people erupted in the State on May 3, 2023, there were strong demands from the valley areas to abrogate the agreement. Then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had claimed that the SoO groups violated the ground rules and instigated the violence. Meitei civil society groups demanded that the pact not be extended by the MHA. More than 250 people were killed and around 60,000 displaced in the Kuki-Zo-Meitei clashes.

The State government refused to extend the agreement in February 2024, in the wake of that violence. The pact was signed again on September 4, 2025, days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to the State since the ethnic violence began.

In a September 18 interview with The Hindu, Aron Kipgen, spokesperson of the UPF, said the groups were about to finalise a political pact with the MHA and the Manipur government.