Naga Body Suspends Indefinite 'Trade Embargo' in Manipur

The United Naga Council (UNC) in Manipur on Thursday announced the suspension of its indefinite "trade embargo" after the state government assured that tripartite talks would resume on contentious issues surrounding the India-Myanmar border fencing and the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR).

The UNC, the apex body representing the Naga community in Manipur, along with other Naga organisations, had enforced the embargo from midnight on September 8. The protest was staged across Naga-inhabited areas of the state in opposition to what they described as the "arbitrary" fencing of the international border and the withdrawal of the FMR.

According to a statement issued by the UNC, an Emergency Presidential Council (EPC) meeting was convened on Thursday following receipt of a formal communication from the Manipur government.

"After receiving the Manipur government's letter for resumption of a tripartite meeting between the UNC, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Manipur government on the issue of abrogation of the FMR and border fencing along the 'imaginary India-Myanmar border in Naga areas,' an EPC meeting of the UNC was held," the statement read.

The council said it "appreciated the Manipur government's acknowledgement of the past engagements between the UNC and the MHA, and its confirmation of receipt of memoranda and representations on the issues."

On Wednesday, Manipur Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel wrote to UNC President Ng Lorho, urging the group to withdraw its agitation "in the larger public interest." The Home Ministry is also understood to have continued backchannel discussions with the Naga bodies in recent weeks to defuse the crisis.

The suspension of the embargo is being seen as a breakthrough, particularly amid reports of a possible visit to the state by a "VVIP".

The backdrop to the protests is the Centre's plan to erect a security fence along the entire India-Myanmar border, a project estimated to cost Rs 31,000 crore. The 1,643-km frontier, running through Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, is widely regarded as porous and is often cited as a conduit for smuggling of arms, narcotics, contraband and illegal migration.

Naga organisations, however, argue that the fencing would cut through villages, divide families, and disrupt traditional cross-border ties of communities that have lived across the boundary for generations. The suspension of the Free Movement Regime, which earlier allowed border residents to travel 16 km into each other's territory without a visa, has further intensified resentment.