Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his Manipur visit, Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), which signed an agreement on September 4 with the Union Home Ministry for the re-opening of the National Highway-2, rescinded the pact on Monday (September 15, 2025). It said that it will not declare the reopening of the highway till a settlement is reached between the two communities. Ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, which erupted in May 2023, led to the shutdown of the highway.
The KZC, a conglomerate of Kuki-Zo groups, said in a statement that “as there is still no settlement or agreement to the conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities, no one from either side must cross the buffer zones.”
