New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to extend the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki insurgent groups in Manipur, even a month after the one-year pact expired on September 4, at a time when inter-community violence between Nagas and Kukis has escalated across several hill districts of the state.
The development comes just days before Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Senapati, a Naga-dominated district, on October 7. This will be his second visit to Manipur since the outbreak of large-scale ethnic violence in May 2023. His last visit was to Imphal in April 2024 to address a political rally ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to government sources, the pact is currently being kept in abeyance. A senior official told The Hindu that the Centre is insisting on the surrender of weapons held by the Kuki groups before any formal extension is considered. The presence of a large number of weapons among civilians has been identified as one of the prime drivers of continued violence and killings in the state.
During a security review meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on September 30 to assess the situation in Manipur, it was decided to send 30 additional companies of the Central Reserve Police Force, comprising around 3,000 personnel, and two battalions of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), comprising around 2,000 personnel, for deployment in the state. The additional deployment is aimed at containing the fresh cycle of violence.
The SoO agreement was last signed on September 4, 2025, between the MHA, the Manipur Government and Kuki groups under new terms and ground rules. The agreement was signed when Manipur was under President’s Rule, just days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on September 13, his first since the Meitei-Kuki violence erupted on May 3, 2023. The signing had then been seen as a step towards stabilising the security situation.
Before that, the Manipur Government had in February 2024 refused to extend the pact, which had been in force since 2008, citing violations of ground rules in the wake of the May 2023 ethnic violence. The 2025 renewal was therefore projected as a re-negotiated pact with stricter compliance norms.
The original tripartite pact was first signed in 2008 by two umbrella organisations — the United People’s Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) — comprising 24 insurgent groups, along with the MHA and the Manipur Government. The pact was a fallout of the Kuki-Naga clashes of the 1990s that killed hundreds of people. The groups had initially demanded a separate homeland for the Kuki people, and the SoO pact had been extended periodically since then.
However, after the violence between Meitei and Kuki communities broke out on May 3, 2023, strong demands emerged from valley-based civil society organisations for abrogation of the SoO pact. Then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had alleged that SoO groups had violated ground rules and had instigated the violence. More than 250 people were killed and around 60,000 were displaced in the Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes that followed.
Now, a similar demand is being made by Naga civil society groups. Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho and several Naga bodies have demanded abrogation of the SoO pact, arguing that armed Kuki groups are involved in the current round of attacks. The Kuki groups have denied the allegation and said all weapons in their designated camps are accounted for and are regularly inspected by security forces.
The renewed tensions between the Naga and Kuki communities have added a new dimension to Manipur’s fragile security situation. Due to the ethnic tensions, more than 40 people have been killed in Ukhrul, Kangpokpi and Kamjong districts since February 7, just three days after President’s Rule was revoked in the state. On Friday, a public rally was held at Kailenjang in Senapati district against the alleged killing of three Naga people by suspected Kuki militants.
Members of the Kuki SoO groups said they have not received any formal communication from the MHA regarding the status of the pact. One member said the one-year agreement expired on September 4, but there has been no word from the Ministry or from Ajit Lal, Adviser, Northeast in the MHA and the interlocutor for peace talks.
The member said the last meeting between the SoO groups and the interlocutor was held on April 30. At that meeting, the interlocutor had assured that he would meet them every quarter. However, despite the large-scale violence in the state since February, the interlocutor has not visited the affected areas even once, the member claimed.
On the question of abrogation, the SoO member said not extending the pact does not mean it has been abrogated. He said the government may be waiting for the situation to stabilise before making a formal announcement. He reiterated that security forces conduct regular inspections of SoO camps and all weapons are accounted for.
The political negotiations under the SoO framework have also remained inconclusive. In an interview with The Hindu on September 18, Aron Kipgen, spokesperson of the UPF, said his group was about to finalise a political pact with the MHA and the Manipur Government a day before the May 2023 violence started, following a message from Home Minister Amit Shah to either seal the political settlement or wind up the pact. He said negotiations before May 2023 focused on an autonomy arrangement with executive, financial and judicial powers, but the displacement of Kuki people after the violence led the groups to shift their demand to a separate administration such as a Union Territory with legislature.
For now, the Centre appears to be in a wait-and-watch mode, with officials linking the future of the SoO pact to disarmament and de-escalation on the ground.
