Centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks, A K Mishra and NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaling Muivah on Tuesday held a closed door meeting at the outfit’s camp at Hebron, 30 km from the commercial hub of Dimapur.
This was the first time that a meeting on the Naga political issue was held between the Centre’s representative and the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagalim NSCN(IM) inside the camp of any Naga group.
The meeting was confirmed to PTI here by NSCN(IM) ‘home affairs kilonser’ (minister) M Daniel Lotha, who said that it was held for almost two hours at the NSCN(IM) headquarters.
Mishra and Muivah have agreed to meet again before the interlocutor leaves for Delhi, he said but did not provide any details of Tuesday’s meeting.
Mishra, who arrived in Dimapur on Monday, will likely be in Nagaland this week and will inform the NSCN(IM) leadership about the next meeting, he said.
Lotha expressed optimism that a solution to the long drawn Naga issue will be acheived soon if the Centre showed sincerity and seriousness.
The interlocutor will also be meeting the working committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) which comprises of at least eight Naga groups, the sources said.
The Centre has been holding separate talks with the NSCN(IM) since 1997 and the NNPG 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.
The interlocutor will also meet the state government’s core committee on Naga Political Issue, which is headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and has Naga civil societies as its members, officials said.
Mishra, a former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, succeeded the then interlocutor, former Nagaland Governor R N Ravi, who was transferred to Tamil Nadu as its governor on September last year.
This is his second visit to Nagaland to hold parleys with the Naga groups after the one in September in 2021.
