Centre, NSCN-IM Resume Peace Talks In New Delhi

DIMAPUR: After months of will-they-won't-they dithering, the Centre and NSCN-IM are resuming peace talks in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The Naga rebel outfit, of late, has evinced keen interest to negotiate the standing demands in the light of the Framework Agreement they reached with the Centre on August 3, 2015.

According to information, Centre's peace interlocutor AK Mishra is attending the meeting to be joined by the Naga rebel outfit to find an end the decades old problem in the national capital.

The rebels discussed in detail the entire issue with the Core Committee on the Naga Political Issue on Saturday in Chumukeidma, following the Centre's appeal to Chief Minister Neiphu Rio to convince the rebels and civil society to resume the peace negotiations.

NSCN-IM, who has been refusing to give up the demand for a separate constitution and separate flag, is learnt to have prepared to sideline the main conditions for the time being and agreed to listen to the Centre.

The rebels have agreed to respect the weight of the Core Committee on Naga Political Issue which has been mounting pressure on them to resume the talks for an amicable solution.

Chief Minister Neiphu Rio and his predessor TR Zeliang have welcomed the resumption of the dialogue and hoped that it might help the state and its people get a fresh lease of life. Same hope is there in the state's civil society organizations.

Initiated in 1997, the much-hyped peace initiative refused to proceed in right direction since May this year when the rebels stuck to the demands for separate constitution and separate flag citing a unique history of the Nagas--their identity and culture.

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