Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said on Friday he is hopeful that the Central government and the NSCN-IM would soon resolve all aspects relating to the protracted Naga political issues.
The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-led Nagaland government had earlier on a number of occasions urged the Central government to conclude the ongoing Naga peace talks before the Assembly elections scheduled early next year.
Talking to the media, Rio, the top leader of the NDPP, said that the core committee on Naga political issues had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and discussed the Naga peace talks issue.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present in the meeting.
The Nagaland Chief Minister asserted that the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and Centre’s interlocutor A.K. Mishra would hold discussions to resolve the all-important Naga political issues.
Mishra, the former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, had since last year visited Kohima, Dimapur and the headquarters of the NSCN-IM camp, Hebron (near Dimapur), and held discussions with Thuingaleng Muivah, General Secretary of NSCN-IM, and many other Naga leaders.
The NSCN-IM’s repeated insistence on a separate Naga flag and Constitution has become a big hurdle in resolving the Naga issue.
After signing a formal ceasefire agreement with the NSCN-IM in 1997, the Central government has held more than 85 rounds of negotiations with the NSCN-IM and other Naga groups.
–IANS
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