MHA officials and NSCN-IM leaders meet in Dimapur, agree on fresh peace talks

Guwahati: Officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) held a meeting in Dimapur and decided to hold fresh formal talks between the government and the Naga group soon.

A Nagaland government official said that MHA’s advisor, Northeast, A.K. Mishra on Friday held a meeting with NSCN-IM’s General Secretary and chief negotiator Thuingaleng Muivah and discussed various aspects of the Naga political issue.

The official said, "Two other senior leaders of the NSCN-IM attended the meeting. Both sides decided to hold formal talks at the earliest to take forward the long-pending Naga political issue,”


Mishra also held a meeting with the Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) in Dimapur on the same day. The NNPGs, an alliance of seven other Naga groups, have been in talks with the Centre and signed an “Agreed Position” in 2017.

The last formal meeting between the government and the NSCN-IM was held in October last year. The NSCN-IM recently said that if Indians respect the history of the Nagas, Nagas will respect the history of India ten times.

The Union government has been holding political negotiations with the NSCN-IM since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 1997 and also inked the Framework Agreement in 2015. The government also entered into parallel negotiations with the NNPGs in 2017. They signed the Agreed Position in November 2017.

There is a stalemate between the government of India and NSCN-IM over the contentious issue of separate flag and constitution. NSCN-IM has been demanding a separate flag and Constitution which the government of India had rejected.