New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that the Centre will take into consideration Assam and its people while signing any accord with the Naga rebel groups to end insurgency in Nagaland.
Shah made this assurance when Sonowal called him on at his residence this morning.
"Home Minister has assured me that he will keep Assam and its people's interest in mind while signing the peace accord," Sonowal said.
Sonowal called on Modi and Shah separately.
During the meeting, Sonowal apprised the Prime Minister of the prevailing mood of the people in Assam in the wake of the proposed Naga peace accord and discussed with him a number of other issues concerning the state
Meeting between Sonowal and Shah took place a few days after an all party delegation from Manipur headed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh met Shah and also raised their concern over the Naga peace agreement.
Read: Naga accord should not affect autonomy of other NE states: Congress
Both Assam and Manipur government have appealed to the Centre not to compromise the territorial integrity of their states while inking the peace agreement.
The NSCN-IM has been demanding inclusion of Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh within "Greater Nagalim" area, a demand raised by the Naga insurgent outfits.
However, the Centre had earlier ruled out about any such possibility.
In his meeting with Shah, Chief Minister Sonowal has also raised the issue of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) of Assam.
"The Chief Minister also drew Home Minister's attention to the popular public demand regarding NRL and sought his cooperation for NRL to maintain its status quo as public sector undertakings," official sources said.
According to reports, Centre has earlier taken initiatives for disinvestment of NRL.
"Centre has been planning to handover the Bharat Petrolium Corporation Limited (BPCL), which holds a 61.65 percent stake in NRL to private company," sources said.
During the day, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and briefed him about the developments over NSCN-IM and United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) talks.
Centre is also negotiating with the pro-talk faction of Ulfa to bring peace in Assam.
Read: Not even an inch of Assam should be included in NSCN(IM) peace agreement: Gogoi
