Source: The Sangai Express
Bangkok, October 23 (PTI):
Giving a boost to the Naga peace process, the Centre and the NSCN (IM) today agreed to hold further rounds of talks in India next month when the outfit�s leaders meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day talks between the Centre�s interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah and NSCN (IM) general secretary T Muivah here, the Naga side said the Prime Minister�s invitation to the outfit�s leaders to visit India showed that the Indian Government was committed to find an early and mutually satisfactory solution to the Naga issue.
The two sides agreed that the Prime Minister�s invitation would give further impetus to the peace talks, the statement said.
The NSCN (IM) leaders are scheduled to visit New Delhi in the last week of November, it said.
The statement also condemned the bomb blasts earlier this month in Dimapur, describing them as "barbaric and inhuman" killings of innocent civilians.
It said the bombing was a "despicable act" which took place on October 2, the birth anniversary of the apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi.
NSCN (IM) chairman Isak Swu and Muivah had visited Delhi in January last year after a gap of over three decades to meet the Indian leadership, but this is the first time they have agreed to hold talks on the Naga issue in the Capital.
Representatives of the Government and the NSCN (IM) have been meeting in third countries since the two sides entered into a ceasefire accord in 1997.