IM team to meet Modi before formal talks
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Delhi/Dimapur, September 29 2014 : The NSCN IM team will first meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi then only the 'formal dialogue' will start, according to a well placed source from the NSCN-IM.

"Meeting and holding formal dialogues are two different things," said the NSCN-IM source.

The source confided to Newmai News Network that the NSCN-IM team had held talk with New Delhi's interlocutor RN Ravi on September 22 .

The NSCN-IM delegation found RN Ravi 'fine' contrary to what they had perceived earlier.

It can be noted here that Naga Hoho and other Naga frontal organisations had earlier opposed RN Ravi's appointment as the interlocutor.

Meanwhile, when queried when the NSCN-IM team will meet Narendra Modi, the NSCN-IM source said it will be fixed only after the Prime Minister returns to the country.

"But since it was from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that the invitation came from, I don't think it will take long," stated the NSCN-IM source.

The source added that this time the NSCN-IM feels optimistic that something 'good' may come out of the talks.

The BJP led NDA Government had already said the Indo-Naga political issue will be resolved in a time-bound manner.

This stand of the NDA Government was echoed yesterday by Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang in Kohima when a news agency interviewed him.

"Given this scenario, every meeting or dialogue with the NDA Government is going to be very crucial," stated the source.

It is worth recalling here that a 10-member team of the NSCN-IM left Dimapur on September 20 for New Delhi on the invitation of the Government of India.

NSCN-IM chairman Isak Chisi Swu and the outfit's general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah led the team.

The NSCN-IM team will prepare for the formal talks with the Government of India in the National capital for about a week before the formal talks begin.

The precise dates scheduled for the talks have not been revealed.

It is worth noting that there was no concerted formal talks between the NSCN-IM and the Congress led Government of India for a long time, as it was witnessed during the Vajpayee era.

With the return of the NDA at the Centre, the Naga civil society organisations and the NSCN-IM are upbeat and there have been expressions of optimism that something good for the Nagas is coming.

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