Naga talks will continue
Press statement released by Th. Muivah after Meeting with three Ministers of the Indian Government
We met today with the negotiating team newly appointed by the Prime Minister of India to represent the Government of India in its negotiations with the Collective Leadership of the NSCN. The three Ministers, Shri. Oscar Fernandes, Prithviraj Chauhan and Regupathy will join with Mr. K. Padmanabhaiah in new rounds of talks starting this week. We look forward to an acceleration and intensification of the negotiations in coming weeks and months. The level of the talks will continue, as before, at the Prime Minister level.
The Home Minister of the Government of India, Mr.Shivraj Patil kindly introduced the three Ministers to us, and we had a useful discussion with him also on the progress of the talks. We sought clarification from the Home Minister regarding a statement reported in the press and attributed to him, regarding the Government of India's stand on the issue of Naga integration. We were reassured by the Minister that his statement was mis-represented in some press reports, and that there is no change in the position of the Government of India that this issue remains on the agenda of the negotiations.
