New Delhi:The Ministry of Home Affairs is hopeful that the peace talks between the government of India representative and National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Thuingaleng Muivah (NSCN-IM) leadership that resumed this week will be able to resolve the issue of a separate Naga flag and Constitution as demanded by the NSCN-IM.
"We are working to get a permanent solution to the decades-long Indo-Naga peace talks. It is highly expected that a solution on the major issues would be sorted out soon," said a senior Home Ministry official privy to the development of the Indo-Naga peace talks in New Delhi on Wednesday. Asked about the two contentious issues, the Home Ministry official said they were expecting "something positive in this direction as well."
The Government of India representative AK Mishra landed in Nagaland on Monday for an informal meeting with NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah at the NSCN's Hebron camp a day later. "An informal meeting took place between them at the Hebron camp. The formal talks will take place on Friday and Saturday at Chumukhedima," a senior NSCN-IM leader told ETV Bharat.
This is for the first time that both sides met at the NSCN-IM camp at Hebron for an informal talk. Normally, talks between the two sides take place outside the NSCN-IM camp. The Naga leader said that the formal dialogue with the centre around the issue of a separate Naga flag and Constitution will take place soon. "Naturally, that is the (separate flag and Constitution) focus of the talk now," the NSCN-IM leader said.
Although both sides signed a Framework Agreement in 2015, a final settlement remains elusive after the Naga rebel group voiced their demand for a separate Naga flag and a Constitution. The Naga insurgency spearheaded by NSCN is known as the longest-running insurgency in the Northeast. However, in 1997, the Central government and NSCN-IM signed a ceasefire agreement for a peaceful solution to the vexed Naga issue.
When the Framework Agreement was signed in 2015, the Central government's representative RN Ravi brought seven other Naga rebel groups under the banner of the Naga National Political Group (NNPG). Ironically, the peace process went into a deadlock after the relationship between Ravi and NSCN-IM leadership soured in 2019-20 with both the sides engaging in a war of words. Recently, the NSCN-IM accused Ravi, who is serving as the Tamil Nadu Governor, of being involved in a "psychological war." Ravi was hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to settle the peace talk with Naga groups.
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