Naga leader Thuingaleng Muivah in Delhi to meet Interlocutor A K Mishra

The longstanding Indo-Naga imbroglio is expected to be finally solved soon, with Govt of India and NSCM-IM likely to come to a final agreement in the coming days. The organisation's General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, who is currently in New Delhi, is slated to meet Centre-appointed interlocutor AK Mishra and thereafter hold meetings with both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, writes ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The final agreement between NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Issac Muiva) and the Government of India is likely to be reached very soon, with the organization's General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah currently in New Delhi, said Nagaland Deputy CM Y Patton on Friday.

In a conversation with ETV Bharat, Patton said, "Thuingaleng Muivah has reached Delhi and he will meet with Center's interlocutor AK Mishra before meeting the Prime Minister and Home Minister". He noted, however, that the meeting with PM Modi or Home Minister Shah would depend on the outcome of the Naga leader's talks with Mishra.

He further noted that the administration in Nagaland wanted an early solution to the decades-long Indo-Naga imbroglio. "It has been a very long time. The talks are going on for decades. It's high time that both sides should come to a consensus for finalizing the peace deal," the Deputy CM observed.

Presenting an ambiguous scenario when asked whether parties in the Northeastern state would be boycotting the upcoming assembly elections due in 2023, he said all sides "would take a decision soon".

Government sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the personal initiative to bring an early solution to the decades-long crisis. In fact, following directions from the PMO, Mishra has started the talk process on a fast-track basis.

In April 2022, Muiva had a talk with Mishra at the NSCN-IM's Hebron camp in Nagaland. Since September last year, Mishra visited Nagaland three times and held a series of meetings with the NSCN-IM leaders, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, and various other stakeholders.

Ever since the Government of India and NSCN-IM announced a ceasefire in 1997, more than 80 rounds of talks have taken place between the two sides so far. A stalemate, however, still exists over two contentious issues-separate flags and a separate Constitution.

It is believed that Mishra during his meeting with Muiva is likely to present a 'common draft' clubbing both the status paper of the agreed position and the competency clauses of the Framework Agreement.

In 2015, the Government of India and NSCN-IM signed a Framework Agreement and in 2017 Agreed Position was signed with other stakeholders.