PM Modi’s upcoming visit to Manipur could be overshadowed by the UNC’s blockade call, protesting border fencing and the scrapping of the FMR.
BY PC Bureau
September 3, 2025: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Manipur on September 13, tensions are building in the hill state after the United Naga Council (UNC) announced that it will enforce a trade embargo across Naga areas from midnight of September 8. The move escalates the council’s opposition to the Union government’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and proceed with border fencing along the India–Myanmar frontier.
The UNC decision follows the collapse of its latest round of talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi last month. According to sources, the UNC delegation pressed the government to reconsider the abrogation of the FMR, citing its importance for sustaining kinship, trade, and cultural ties across the Naga homeland. However, officials from the MHA reportedly remained firm that the FMR had become a “security liability” in the wake of insurgency, illegal migration, and drug trafficking, leaving the dialogue deadlocked.
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The Free Movement Regime, introduced in 2018, allowed tribal residents living along the porous border to travel up to 16 kilometers across either side without a visa. While it was meant to preserve cross-border ties among Naga and other indigenous communities, its suspension earlier this year, followed by reports of fencing work along the Indo-Myanmar border, has triggered widespread discontent. Critics argue that fencing would physically divide Naga villages, severing centuries-old socio-cultural bonds.
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“The unilateral abrogation of the FMR and the imposition of border fencing amidst the Naga homeland is unacceptable,” the UNC said, declaring the embargo as a “collective defense of homeland, identity, and inherent rights over our land.”
The proposed blockade is expected to significantly disrupt the flow of goods into Naga-dominated districts of Manipur, which are heavily dependent on highways for essential supplies. Past blockades have led to shortages and spiraling prices across the state, raising fears of fresh economic hardship for ordinary citizens.
The UNC has called for “utmost cooperation and solidarity” from Naga communities across Manipur and beyond, while appealing for patience and understanding from the wider population in the state. However, security agencies fear that the embargo, coinciding with the Prime Minister’s high-profile visit, could inflame existing ethnic fault lines in the region.
