Oct 09, 2020

Nagalim: Request for Peace Talks to Take Place in a Third Country


The General Secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and key proponent of the Naga peace process Thingeleng Muivah has requested that future peace talks take place in a third country. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narenda Modi, the NCSN(IM) chief negotiator Muviah wrote: “In order to save the political dialogue, the talks should resume at a Prime Minister’s level, without pre-condition and outside India in a third country”. The revealing of the letter to the public and the request to shift negotiations to a third country comes at a time when the Naga peace process has been stuck within a lengthy impasse.

Resolute to reach a fair and peaceful solution, the eight page letter had originally been sent to PM Modi in February. Failing to receive an adequate response from India, the NSCN(IM) made the letter public in order to highlight Naga’s efforts to reach an accord and inform the Naga people of the delay stemming from the office of the Prime Minister. In the letter, Muivah highlights the fact that under various prior Prime Ministers, many of the meets had been held in other countries, such as the United States, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Bangkok, Thailand and the Netherlands.

The most recent talks had been held informally in New Dehli in August amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The talks have remained entirely inconclusive as the NSCN(IM)’s demands to retain their identity via the Naga national flag and constitution have been insistently rejected by the other side.

The UNPO has consistently reinforced its supports the peaceful resolution of the Indo-Naga issue and calls for a just, long lasting and honorable outcome to both the sides. In this context, UNPO calls on the international community to appeal to India to fulfill its commitments in the framework agreement on the Indo-Naga issue. 

 

Photo: National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) chief Thuingaleng Muivah (left) | Fayaz Kabli/Reuters