Centre Holds Crucial Peace Talks with Meitei and Kuki CSOs in Delhi

In a major effort to restore peace in Manipur, the Government of India convened a high-level meeting in New Delhi on Saturday with representatives from the Meitei and Kuki communities. The meeting, held from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, is part of the Centre’s ongoing initiative to resolve the ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023.

From the government’s side, the talks were attended by A.K. Mishra, Special Advisor (North East), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA); Prashant Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary, Manipur; Ashutosh Kumar Sinha, Additional Director General of Police, Manipur; and Rajesh Kamble, Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau, MHA.

Eight leaders from Kuki civil society organisations participated in the talks—six from the Kuki Zo Council and two from the Zomi Council. The Meitei community was represented by six leaders as well—three from the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO) and three from the Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS).

The discussion focused on the following six points:

1. Appeal to their people to refrain from indulging in violence targeting members of the other community and urged the administration to take strong action against perpetrators of violence.

2. Appreciated steps taken by the Governor to facilitate deposit of arms and assured to extend all cooperation in this regard in future in order to instill a sense of security among the people.

3. Acknowledged the difficulties faced by the public on account of obstruction to free movement of traffic on national and state highways and urged the people to cooperate with the administration to normalize functioning of highways.

4. Decided to welcome any initiative by the government to facilitate return of internally displaced people to their respective places subject to logistics and security arrangements made by the government.

5. Appealed to the Governor to prioritise development activities in their areas which were neglected during the conflict.

6. Agreed that all long term and contentious issues will be taken up with GoI (MHA) for resolution through dialogue and consultation with the communities.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to schedule the next round of talks soon.