A leader representing a Kuki-Zo insurgent group has publicly asserted that negotiations with the Indian central government had reached a critical stage by May 3, 2023. According to the report, the group believed they were on the verge of reaching a formal agreement before the situation shifted. The statement highlights the complexity of the ongoing peace process in the region, where various ethnic groups and the state have been engaged in protracted conflict.

While the insurgent leader maintains that a deal was within reach, the report does not provide a corresponding statement from the central government confirming the status of these specific negotiations. The timing of this claim is significant, as May 3, 2023, marks the beginning of a period of intense ethnic violence in Manipur. The discrepancy between the group's perception of progress and the subsequent outbreak of violence remains a focal point of the current discourse. The report focuses primarily on the perspective of the insurgent leadership, leaving the government's official stance on the status of those specific talks unaddressed.