Tripartite talks on new district row today
Source: Chronicle News Service

Senapati, January 29 2025: The tripartite talks between the governments of India and Manipur, and the United Naga Council (UNC) to iron out differences related to creation of seven new districts during the Congress rule in 2016 would resume on Thursday at the DC Conference Hall, here.

In an official communication dated January 24, 2025, from the Ministry of Home Affairs, North East Division/NE-I(A), advisor (North East) AK Mishra, addressed a letter to the president of the UNC, requesting the Council's participation in the meeting along with its team.

According to sources within the UNC, its team is expected to include executives, members of the working committee, and presidents of key frontal organisations, namely All Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM), Naga Women's Union (NWU), and Naga People's Organisation (NPO).

However, the representatives from the governments of India and Manipur had not been confirmed at the time of filing this report.

Mention may be made that seven new districts were created in the state in 2016 by the then Congress government led by O Ibobi Singh amid fierce opposition from the UNC, the apex body of Naga tribes.

The UNC has been opposing the creation of the new districts, asserting that those districts encroached upon the ancestral land of the Nagas.

The Congress government had then said that the move was aimed at administrative convenience.

The last round of tripartite talks, held in November last year, did not yield any result.

"Representatives of the government of Manipur expressed inability to present a concrete proposal in view of certain difficulties.

However, UNC expressed strong exceptions over non-submission of a concrete proposal and insisted that it be submitted in the next rounds of talks," a joint statement issued after that meeting said.

Those seven new districts were carved out of nine districts which existed at that time.

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