The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of Manipur’s Naga communities, has declared a “trade embargo” effective from midnight of September 8, protesting what it termed as the Centre’s “indifferent attitude” towards its repeated pleas against the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and the ongoing border fencing along the India-Myanmar frontier.

The FMR, an agreement between India and Myanmar, allows residents along the 1,643 km international boundary to travel within a stipulated distance across the border. The permissible distance, earlier 16 km, was reduced to 10 km a few months ago.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the UNC said the decision to impose the embargo was taken following a resolution adopted during its presidential council meeting held on August 11. The restriction, it warned, will affect the transportation of goods on National Highways 2 and 37—vital supply routes that pass through Naga-inhabited areas before reaching the Imphal Valley.

The Council asserted that the Naga people have conveyed their strong opposition to the “unilateral abrogation of the FMR and the imposition of border fencing through the Naga homeland.” It lamented that despite protests, rallies, and repeated memorandums since January 2024, the Centre has ignored their concerns.

The Nagas of India—spread across Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh—maintain that the Indo-Myanmar boundary was arbitrarily drawn, dividing them from their kin in Myanmar, where large parts of the Sagaing Division are also inhabited by Nagas.