NLFT wants me in talks with Centre: Zoramthanga

AIZAWL: Former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga today said that the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) wanted him to be involved in the final round of talks between the outfit and the Centre.

The NLFT leadership submitted a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs that he and former Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) leader Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl should be included in the talks as interlocutors, Zoramthanga told PTI here.

"The copy of the letter was sent to me by the NLFT leaders, but I have not receive any communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs," the erstwhile Mizo National Front (MNF) underground leader said.

"I was involved in the parleys between the Centre and the NLFT in the beginning," he said, adding that he played a role in bringing the two parties to the negotiating table.

Zoramthanga has been instrumental in brokering peace deal between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) and was also involved in talks with ethnic Mizo groups in Manipur.

The former chief minister, however, said that his main role was to build mutual trust between the militant groups and the Centre and not involved in the actual parleys.

Years of hostilities between the government and the militant groups had created mistrust between the two parties which was an ice to be broken for successful talks, he added.