Naga political issue: Centre, NSCN-IM agree to seek solution based on Framework Agreement

Dimapur, April 13

The Centre and NSCN-IM have decided to seek the solution to the decades old Naga Political Issue on the basis of the Framework Agreement signed by the two, an NSCN-IM leader said on Thursday.

A closed-door meeting was held here between the Centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks, A K Mishra and a high-level NSCN(IM) team.

“The outcome is positive and we have agreed to seek solution on the basis of the Framework Agreement,” NSCN(IM) leader Rh Raising Tangkhul told reporters after coming out of the two-hour long meeting held at the Police Complex at Chumoukedima in Dimapur.

The Framework Agreement was signed by the Centre with the NSCN-IM in August 2015 to end the long protracted imbroglio. The two are in dialogue on the issue since 1997.

Mishra was accompanied by Intelligence Bureau joint director Mandeep Singh Tulli and Nagaland Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau director Don Jose. The 20-member NSCN-IM team was led by the organisation’s secretary general Th Muivah.

Mishra and Tulli arrived Nagaland on Wednesday and are scheduled to leave for Delhi on Friday, officials said.

They are scheduled to hold a separate meeting in the evening on the peace issue with the working committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), comprising at least seven different groups.

The Centre is in talks with the NNPGs since 2017 and the two had inked the Agreed Position in November that year.

While NNPGs have agreed to accept a solution and continue the dialogue, the NSCN-IM has been rigid on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas. This stand is delaying a final solution to the decades-old negotiations.