Next Round of Naga Talks in Bangkok this Month
Pushing the government for unification of all the Naga-inhabited areas - to constitute ‘Greater Nagaland’ - NSCN (I-M) leaders Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah had agreed in August to a six-month ceasefire rather than the usual one year agreement.
“The six-months will end on January 31, 2006, and the agreement has to be renewed. This round of talks, to be held on December 16-17, will be extremely crucial,” sources in the government disclosed.
Government interlocuter K Padmanabhaiah and Minister for Planning and Programme Implementation Oscar Fernandes go to the Thai capital for the talks.
Fernandes heads the government's inter-ministerial group on the Naga talks, its other members being Minister of State, PMO, Prithviraj Chauhan and Minister of State for Home S Regupathy. The last round of talks between the two sides had been held in July in Amsterdam.
According to sources, the dialogue had not been as smooth as it had been earlier, with the NSCN (I-M) charging the government with not being serious in its efforts, and also for carrying on a simultaneous dialogue with the rival Naga group, the NSCN (Khaplang).
“The talks are at a very delicate stage and we are treading very cautiously,” an official disclosed.
To break the stalemate over the Greater Nagaland issue, the government had considered involving representatives of other affected states - Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh - in the peace dialogue. However, the Union Cabinet did not give the clearance as it was felt that it would cause unnecessary tension in the other states.
The proposed `Nagalim' includes parts of Karbi Anglong, North
Cachar Hills district, Golaghat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Jorhat in
Assam; Temenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel in Manipur; and Dibang Valley,
Lohit, Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
