Dec 29, 2005

Nagalim: Chief Minister Rio Tosses Interim Solution Idea


In the backdrop of news reports doing the rounds of a major deadlock in the peace parleys between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM), Chief Minister Nephiu Rio has reportedly tossed a new idea into the current peace parleys

In the backdrop of news reports doing the rounds of a major deadlock in the peace parleys between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM), Chief Minister Nephiu Rio has reportedly tossed a new idea into the framework of the current peace parleys by speaking of the need for an interim solution.

In a news article carried in today’s edition of The Statesman, Rio speaking to senior journalist from the Northeast, Sanjoy Hazarika, tossed the new idea on the need for an interim solution to break the deadlock.

Replying to a query on remarks by the NSCN I-M questioning the future of the ceasefire and the peace process, Rio said that if there was a deadlock towards finding a solution and if it becomes very tough, “it can take the shape of an interim solution, not a final one.”

According to him, a deadlock and breaking the ceasefire will not be advisable as (territorial) integration was at the heart of the solution. “We (Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh) are neighbours and will continue to be so, that is why we must have an amicable solution”, Rio was quoted as saying.

Mention may be made that the peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India is reportedly stuck over the unification of Naga inhabited areas and the other demand of granting limited sovereignty. According to a news report carried on the December 23 issue of the Indian Express, New Delhi’s Emissaries, Minister for Planning & Programme Implementation Oscar Fernandes and K Padmanabhiah, who had gone to Bangkok for talks last week tried to convince the NSCN (IM) that neither the Prime Minister nor the Centre could accept their present demand. Things must be within Constitutional framework, said a senior official to the Indian Express.

Subsequently, they were asked to consider the autonomous status under Article 244A. The NSCN (IM) leaders, however, did not relent and were insistent on their demand for the unification of all Naga inhabited areas, many of which were in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

Further, even the NSCN (I-M)’s demand for limited sovereignty, whereby they are insisting on a special federal arrangement in which the Nagas will have to be recognized as an independent entity, has not found favour from New Delhi. The Centre’s emissaries would be flying out again on January 13 for another round of talks in a bid to save the six-month ceasefire, which will expire on 31 January 2006.

 

Source: Nagalim.nl