A meeting between leaders of Naga civil society organizations and officials from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the demand for reinstatement of the old Free Movement Regime (FMR) and stoppage of the ongoing fencing along the India-Myanmar border concluded in New Delhi on Tuesday without reaching a clear resolution.
The talks, held at Navyug School, lasted for over two hours and involved an eight-member MHA delegation that included the ministry’s adviser for the Northeast Affairs, AK Mishra, senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, and the Manipur commissioner for home affairs. The 11-member Naga delegation was headed by United Naga Council (UNC) President Ng. Lorho and included representatives of the UNC, the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM), and the Naga Women’s Union (NWU).
According to reports, the Naga delegation reiterated its strong opposition to both the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Indo-Myanmar border and the ongoing border fencing in Naga-inhabited areas.
UNC president Ng. Lorho stated that the Naga leaders made their position “loud and clear” during the discussion. He added that the council would determine “the course of agitation and its methods” once the delegation returned home, Ukhrul Times reported.
News agency IANS reported a spokesman of the UNC saying that the New Delhi meeting was “inconclusive”. “After returning to Imphal on Wednesday, we would discuss the outcome of the meeting with the MHA and decide the next course of action,” he said.
The Naga team is scheduled to return on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
The UNC had previously issued an ultimatum to the Central government and held a meeting with Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on August 16 to discuss the reinstatement of the old FMR and stoppage of border fencing along 398 km India-Myanmar border with Manipur.
The UNC and other Naga bodies have been agitating in support of their demands since last year, opposing the “unilateral abrogation of FMR and construction of border fencing along the India-Myanmar border”.
The Nagaland and Mizoram governments and many political parties and civil society groups in the two northeastern states have also opposed the scrapping of the old FMR and border fencing along the 1,643-km-long unfenced border shared by Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram with Myanmar.
