Source: The Imphal Free Press
Imphal, July 24 (PTI):
The government on Tuesday asked prominent Naga insurgent outfit, NSCN (IM), to be flexible in their approach and limit the ceasefire to Nagaland in order to defuse the volatile situation in the Northeast.
�If they (insurgent) are really sincere in having peace in the Northeast, the words, the formulations (of the ceasefire extension accord) should not stand in the way of defusing the whole situation,� Minister of State for Home ID Swami told a news channel, when asked whether the government wanted NSCN (IM) to be flexible on the territorial limits of the ceasefire.
He said the main purpose of the on-going talks between Centre�s interlocutor K.Padmanabhaiah and NSCN(IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah in Armsterdam was to limit the extension of area coverage to Nagaland.
Padmanabhaiah has already held some rounds of discussions with Muivah in the last two days following government�s decision to review the truce extension accord in its entirety.
The ceasefire accord was reached between them in Bangkok last month whereby its tenure was extended by another year from August 1 �without territorial limit� This phrase led to large-scale unrest in Manipur and some parts of the Northeast.
The term of the ceasefire expires on July 31.Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has convened a meeting of chief ministers of all the Northeast states to discuss the issue.
He along with Home Minister L.K.