Centres interlocutor for Naga peace talks in Nagaland

Centres interlocutor for Naga Peace talks, A K Mishra arrived here on Monday and is likely to meet NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and other leaders of the outfit at their Camp Hebron during his week-long stay to resolve the vexed Naga political issue.

If the meeting takes place it will be the first time that negotiations on the Naga issue will be held inside the NSCN(IM) camp.

Mishra, for whom this will be second visit since taking up the office of the interlocutor, is likely to go to the NSCN(IM) headquarters as Muivah, who is an octogenarian, is ill, sources said. The interlocutor will also be meeting the working committee of Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) which comprise of at least eight Naga groups, the sources said.

The Centre is holding separate talks with the NSCN(IM) since 1997 and the NNPGs from 2017. It signed the framework agreement with NSCN(IM) on August 3, 2015 and an Agreed Position with NNPG on November 17, 2017.

However, no final solution has been achieved till date with the NSCN(IM) remaining firm on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas.

Mishra will also meet the state governments core committee on Naga political issue, which is headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Naga civil societies, officials said. Mishra, a former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, succeeded the then interlocutor, former Nagaland Governor R N Ravi, who has been transferred to Tamil Nadu as its governor in September last year.

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