Following the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) disclosure of a "transnational conspiracy" fueling ethnic tensions, Manipur's CN N Biren Singh asserted that the ongoing five-month-long violence constitutes a war against the Indian Union. Myanmar and Bangladesh-based Kuki militants, in conjunction with local militant groups, are jointly responsible for this conflict. Singh clarified, "The current crisis in Manipur is not a clash between ethnic groups or a state law-and-order issue but a direct assault on the Indian Union." He further highlighted that the crisis, originally portrayed as ethnic or communal, religion-based, or majority-minority conflict, has now been exposed as an attempt to disintegrate Manipur, echoing the voice of the people. The NIA revealed that insurgent leaders from neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh are funding the procurement of arms, ammunition, and "terrorist hardware" to exacerbate the ethnic strife in Manipur, sourcing these materials both across the border and from other active terrorist outfits in the Northeast.