NSCN (IM) deal: Home ministry express concern over not being briefed fully

NEW DELHI: The home ministry has expressed concern over not being briefed fully on the recently signed peace agreement between the government and NSCN (IM). This comes after the defence ministry also raised the issue of lack of full consultation. Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had said chief ministers of some North-east states were not consulted.

MHA Raised Matter with JIC

The agreement was signed on August 3 and the announcement was made at the prime minister’s residence, 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi. The official statement had said the government has “successfully concluded the dialogue on Naga political issue…which has existed for six decades, and signed an agreement”.

The home ministry has raised the matter with Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) interlocutor RN Ravi by writing to the panel. JIC reports to the prime minister’s office (PMO). Home Secretary LC Goyal has met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on this issue. The defence ministry, which had reportedly planned to write to the home ministry, also plans to write to JIC seeking more details.

Spokespersons for the home and defence ministries said they had no comments on the matter. Senior officials who spoke to ET for this report did not wish to be identified. Officials said when Goyal met Doval, the former raised the point that the home ministry was not entirely in the loop when the joint statement was formulated.

Officials familiar with the Naga peace agreement said the two key differences between the 2015 deal and the 2011 agreement, which was drawn up when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power, are that Naga interlocutors have dropped their demand for “shared sovereignty” and have also agreed to not redrawing state boundaries in the North-east.

Army officials familiar with operational matters in Nagaland said they have no details of the agreement. They said the army will ask not just the home ministry but also the PMO for more details. “While the ceasefire on the ground is holding, there is no clarity on issues like surrender of weapons and dismantling of camps. We have sought details from the highest level on the next steps that should be taken,” a senior army official said.