A joint meeting of Manipur MLAs belonging to Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities will be convened by the ministry of home affairs in Delhi on Tuesday in a first-of-its kind initiative to find a way out of the ongoing ethnic clash in the state.

A source said that some six-seven BJP MLAs and three NPF MLAs were invited by Amit Shah’s ministry. “The MLAs belong to the Naga, Meitei and Kuki tribes. Some left for Delhi on Sunday and some left today (Monday),” the source said.

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh is not attending the meet, according to sources.

No Congress MLA has been invited to the meeting, Manipur PCC president K. Meghachandra Singh told The Telegraph. “We have not been invited but we welcome any initiative which can ensure a solution to the unrest that began last year,” he said.

The meeting comes in less than a month after Shah’s assertion at a media conference in Delhi on September 17 that the Centre was talking to the warring Meiteis and Kuki-Zos to restore peace.

Though details of the parleys were not revealed, reports suggest unofficial talks had been held in “neutral” Delhi, Guwahati and Calcutta with Kuki-Zo and Meitei leaders with the help of Naga leaders and central agencies to restore peace to Manipur.

The Nagas and Metei Pangals (Muslim) have stayed neutral in the conflict.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited the strife-hit state since the conflict began on May 3, 2023.

Manipur has had a BJP-led coalition government since 2017. The NPF and the NPP are allies of the BJP. Opposition Congress has five MLAs in a House of 60.

Sources in Imphal and Delhi said the joint meeting on Monday will be held under the supervision of the home ministry to set the ball rolling for substantive dialogues to restore peace in a state that has seen at least 237 persons lose their lives and over 60,000 get displaced in the past 17 months of strife between the Meitei and Kuki-Zocommunities.

The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs have not attended any of the three Assembly sessions held in Meitei-majority Imphal since the conflict began owing to security reasons.

“If the meeting is held, it will be a sort of breakthrough. It will be the first time that Meitei and Kuki-Zo MLAs will sit together for talks since the conflict began. Naga MLAs will play the role of facilitators,” a source said.

Reports from Imphal said Meitei MLAs/ministers invited to the meeting included Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata, ministers Thongam Biswajit, Dr Sapam Ranjan, ThounaojamBasantakumar, Khongbantabam Ibomcha, Thokchom Radhe-shyam and Tongbram Robindro while the Kuki-Zo legislators included Letpao Haokip, Paolienlal Haokip and Haokholet Kipgen,among others.