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Nagaland govt urges Centre to conclude Naga peace talks by August 15
Nagaland deputy chief minister Y Patton said that the state government has made an appeal to the Centre that the Naga political settlement should be sped up before the assembly election, which is scheduled to be held early next year.
KOHIMA: Legislators from Nagaland, led by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, who recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi, urged the Cente to expedite the Naga peace talks and make an announcement during this year’s Independence Day celebrations on August 15, deputy chief minister Y Patton, who was also part of Rio’s delegation to Delhi, said on Tuesday while speaking at an event in Dimapur.
Patton said that the delegation made an appeal to the central leaders that the Naga political settlement should be sped up before the state assembly election which is scheduled to be held early next year, sections of the local media reported.
Patton was quoted as saying that it would not be possible for any elected legislator to step down within six months or one year once the assembly elections were held while settlement demands so.
Calls made to the deputy CM’s office for confirmation and elaboration on the matter went unanswered.
Patton’s statement comes in the backdrop of the Centre’s emissary for the Naga peace talks, AK Mishra’s arrival in Nagaland. Mishra has informally sat with top leaders of various groups on Tuesday and Wednesday including the NSCN (IM) with which the Centre had signed the Framework Agreement of 2015. A series of formal meetings are scheduled to be held from April 21, people familiar with the matter said. It is learnt that Mishra will meet the working committee of the Naga national political groups (NNPGs) on Thursday, followed by a formal meeting with the NSCN (IM) on April 22, thereafter, he will meet the state lawmakers’ panel which was formed to press for an early settlement of the vexed Naga political issue. The NNPGs also signed an agreement with the government of India in 2017 called the “Agreed Position”.
Meanwhile, the Centre has extended ceasefire agreements with three different factions of the NSCN for a period of one year each. “Ceasefire Agreements are in operation between Government of India and National Socialist Council of Nagaland/NK (NSCN/NK), National Socialist Council of Nagaland/ Reformation (NSCN/R) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland/K-Khango (NSCN/K-Khango),” an official bulletin said on Wednesday.
