Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 30:
In a boost to the Naga peace process, the Government today extended the ceasefire with NSCN (IM) for another year following talks with the major insurgent, outfit in Chiangmel, about 500 km from here.
The decision to extend the truce, which expires tomorrow, was taken after two days of negotiations between the Centre's interlocutor on Naga peace process K Padmanabhaiah and NSCN (IM) chairman Isak Swu and general secretary T Muivah in the Thai hill resort near the border with Myanmar.
Padmanabhaiah's meeting with the NSCN (IM) leadership coincided with the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangkok for the BIMST-EC Summit.
The Centre and the insurgent group entered into a ceasefire accord in 1997 and have continued with the peace process since then.
Padmanabhaiah had met the NSCN (IM) leadership in Amsterdam last month.
In January last year, Swu and Muivah had visited Delhi and met then Prime Minister Atal' Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy LK Advani.
National Security Advisor JN Dixit, who has accompanied the Prime Minister to the summit, told reporters that the peace talks "are on track".
He said he was not planning to meet the Naga insurgent group leaders nor had he any occasion to talk to them.
There are Government representatives dealing with that and those representatives will continue to do so.
Regarding reservations NSCN (IM) has with UPA's Common Minimum Programme on the Naga issue, Dixit said as per the CMP there shall not be any erosion of the current territory status of the northeastern States.
The NSCN (IM), however, wants 'Greater Nagaland' which includes Naga dominated areas of other States neighbouring Nagaland.