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Assam, Nagaland CMs take part in Naga peace talks
Naga peace talks were stalled in October 2019 over differences on issues related to the 2015 Framework Agreement, and NSCN-IM’s insistence on a separate Naga flag and constitution
KOHIMA: The Naga peace talks received a fillip on Tuesday, when the chief ministers of Nagaland and neighbouring Assam met with negotiators of the Indian government and the Isak Muivah-led National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) in Dimapur.
Three important meetings took place in Nagaland’s most populous city: between representatives of NSCN-(IM) and New Delhi’s emissary AK Mishra, between Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio and his Assamese counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, and between the chief minsters and Mishra, the latest in a line of interlocutors who is a retired special director of the Intelligence Bureau.
“At Dimapur today, we held a discussion with NSCN(IM) representatives in presence of Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio about the ongoing pece talks with GoI (Government of India)....We are keen that the ongoing peace talks fructify into concrete results soon,” Sarma tweeted on Tuesday evening.
Although details of the meetings were not immediately known, they were “positive” and the consultations will continue, according to people aware of the matter, including representatives of NSCN (IM), who declined to be named.
The people said future meetings could take place in Delhi next. HT could not independently confirm this.
Earlier, Naga peace talks were stalled in October 2019 over differences on issues related to the 2015 Framework Agreement, and NSCN-IM’s insistence on a separate Naga flag and constitution.
Mishra, who will be in Nagaland till September 23, is scheduled to meet the working committee of seven Naga nationalist political groups (NNPGs) with whom the central government had signed an “agreed position” in 2017.
The latest developments taking place in Nagaland since Mishra’s arrival a few days after Governor RN Ravi was transferred to Tamil Nadu have lead to expectations of an early resolution to the decades-old Naga peace process. However, it is unclear how New Delhi will balance two separate understandings with NSCN (IM) and the seven other groups. There is also the ceasefire agreement with the Niki Sumi-led faction of the NSCN (Khaplang) on September 8 last year.
Meanwhile, the Assam Congress said that the participation of Sarma in the Naga talks could compromise Assam’s interest.“It has been reported that CM Nagaland and CM Manipur have also been asked to be part of the talks along with CM Assam. But we have come know thar CM Manipur has decided not to participate in the talks due to differences on “Greater Nagalim issue”, said Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah in a statement. NSCN-IM had been insisting on the final peace deal to encompass Greater Nagalim (areas in states neighbouring Nagaland including Assam where Nagas reside).
Congress leaders demanded that the central government should immediately put the contents of the 2015 Framework Agreement in the public domain.
“We also demand that the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Sarma should make their intentions public to the people of Assam before venturing into such doubtful and dubious expeditions in the name of peace talks,” Assam Congress said in a statement on Tuesday.
