Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said that the state government is holding “peace talks” with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group.
He said that talks were at an advanced stage. However, he did not name the underground organisation, reports PTI.
This was for the first time that there was an official confirmation about such talks being held by the government, since ethnic violence broke out on May 3.
Earlier, sources had told the news agency that the government was holding talks with one faction of the proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF).
The north-eastern state has been rocked by deadly ethnic clashes between the majority Meiteis and the tribal Kukis since May 3. The violence has left over 180 people dead. The trigger for the violence was a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ which was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.