Indo-Naga talks: Latest round fails to achieve breakthrough

Talks to continue; Interlocutor to meet working committee of NNPGs on October 25

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 24 (EMN): Negotiators representing government of India and the NSCN (IM) failed to break the deadlock in the latest round of Indo-Naga talks held at Delhi on Thursday.

According to a highly reliable source from the NSCN (IM), there was “no breakthrough” on Thursday after what was reported to be more than three hours of negotiation between the two parties.

The source informed that there will be more rounds of talks in the coming days.

He reiterated the NSCN (IM)’s stand that the talks are not “time-bound”.

“The talks are being held between two parties. One party alone cannot decide (when it should end). We have to understand the issues together and come to a meeting point,” he said.

The October 31 deadline was “not acceptable”, he added.

“Basically there will be many issues that need to be talked about, and in each round different issues will be brought up,” said the source.

According to reports, the interlocutor, RN Ravi will meet the working committee of NNPGs on Friday.

Also, intelligence sources said that Ravi will sit down again with the NSCN (IM) leaders—headed by Th Muivah—on October 26 as well as the 28th.

For a while now, the negotiations have been stuck at the demand for separate Naga flag and constitution by the NSCN (IM).

On the other hand, Ravi has made it clear that he intends to stick to the three-month deadline given to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The working committee of NNPGs has expressed its willingness to accept the solution at the earliest; with the rider that any contentious issues should be pursued post-solution.

On October 24, The Indian Express had quoted an Indian government official as saying: “Efforts are still on to bring them (IM) on board with the final draft, as an agreement without it will not make much sense. The government is keen to conclude the agreement soon.”

Manipur writes objection to PM

The Manipur government has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to take any action that “may change the present administrative setup of Manipur and also not grant any kind of autonomy to any part of the state”.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly Y Kemchand Singh stated that the ongoing Indo-Naga talks and the NSCN (IM)’s demand for greater Nagalim “entails disturbing the territorial integrity of the neighbouring states of Assam, Arunachal (Pradesh) and Manipur”.

According to him, this has caused “grave concern” among the people of the three states.

The Speaker stated that Manipur “went up in flames, literally” when its Legislative Assembly was burnt down when the ceasefire between NSCN (IM) and the government of India was extended “without territorial limits”.

“Any threat of change in the existing state boundary is deemed unacceptable and non-negotiable to the people of the state,” he stated while reminding that the Manipur Assembly has passed nine resolutions over the years reiterating its commitment to safeguard its territorial integrity.

Earlier in the day, protesters in large numbers, mostly women, staged a rally against any move to affect the territorial integrity of Manipur.

It may be mentioned that the demand for integration of all Naga areas under one administrative roof is as old as the Naga issue itself.

It was under one of the clauses in the agreement of 1960 popularly known as the 16-point agreement signed between the government of India and the Naga People’s Convention. This agreement paved the way for the creation of Nagaland state in 1963 but the integration of the Nagas areas was not implemented.

The Nagaland Legislative Assembly has over the years passed six resolutions, starting from 1964, to integrate the contiguous Naga areas.