Naga group temporarily suspends economic blockade along national highways in Manipur

Imphal, Sep 11 (PTI) A major Naga group in Manipur on Thursday said it has temporarily suspended the indefinite blockade along the national highways in Naga-majority areas of the state following a request from the government, as talks are on over the border fencing along Myanmar and the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with the neighbouring country.

The United Naga Council (UNC) launched an indefinite 'trade embargo' along the national highways from midnight on September 8 to protest the fencing works along the India-Myanmar border and the scrapping of FMR.

The central government in January last year announced that the FMR, which allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without visa, would end soon.

A UNC statement said that the organisation held an emergency meeting in Senapati district and decided to temporarily suspend the indefinite blockade. The suspension came into effect at 6 pm on Thursday.

Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, in a letter to the UNC on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Home Affairs has been engaging with the UNC on the issue of fencing the border between India and Myanmar in Naga-inhabited areas.

"The next tripartite meeting with UNC will be held on a mutually convenient date and venue," Goel said, adding that any form of agitation in this regard may be withdrawn in the larger public interest.

The 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, currently has FMR. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy. PTI COR NN