Terms of Naga peace pact still hazy; sources say it is aimed at "lasting solution"

NEW DELHI: While peace talks with the Nagas have been on intermittently since 1997, it was after the election of Narendra Modi as PM that they picked up pace. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the Centre's chief interlocutor R N Ravi engaged the NSCN (IM) in intensive discussions over the past year, meeting almost every few weeks to hammer out an agreement.

Monday's signing ceremony did not release the details of the accord, but sources said it aimed at a "lasting solution". The talks, for the past year, followed the broad parameters set out by the PM. Modi announced that he had followed the negotiations personally for the past few months. With this accord, the government hopes to open the northeast to development. The India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway has been held hostage to a number of violent incidents.

The major obstacle to peace has been the demand by the Naga groups to incorporate the Naga-speaking areas in Manipur. Sources said this had not been agreed to by the government. However, the terms of the accord are still hazy - the two sides will now work on a detailed action plan which, sources said, would be released in the next few days.

Monday's accord does not include the NSCN (Khaplang). Khaplang, who is a Burmese Naga, obviously cannot enter into an accord with the Indian state. The NSCN (K) signed a ceasefire agreement with Myanmar in 2012 and in March 2015, unilaterally walked away from a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government. The NSCN (K) also teamed up with Paresh Barua's ULFA to form the United Liberation Front of Southwest Asia, which has allegedly been getting support from the Chinese from across the Myanmar border.

The major obstacle to peace has been the demand by the Naga groups to incorporate the Naga-speaking areas in Manipur. Sources said this had not been agreed to by the government. However, the terms of the accord are still hazy - the two sides will now work on a detailed action plan which, sources said, would be released in the next few days.

Monday's accord does not include the NSCN (Khaplang). Khaplang, who is a Burmese Naga, obviously cannot enter into an accord with the Indian state. The NSCN (K) signed a ceasefire agreement with Myanmar in 2012 and in March 2015, unilaterally walked away from a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government. The NSCN (K) also teamed up with Paresh Barua's ULFA to form the United Liberation Front of Southwest Asia, which has allegedly been getting support from the Chinese from across the Myanmar border.
For the past few months, the NSCN (K) has been targeting Indian security forces. Meanwhile, high level sources said that despite ceasefire agreements with NSCM (IM) in 1997 and NSCN (K) in 2001, Naga insurgent groups have engaged in killings and targeting of Indian security forces outside Nagaland. "Rampant corruption, collection of taxes, levies and extortion money" has been the norm in Nagaland and Manipur. Particularly kidnapping has been on the rise in recent months.

For the Naga insurgents, the accord would allow them to usher in peace in the state, and integrate the new generation to mainland India. In the past decade or more, Nagas have actually reaped a partial peace dividend, and this accord would help to cement the peace. For Muivah himself, it's a chance to enter the history books as a peacemaker rather than an insurgent.

The accord would be beneficial to India-Myanmar relations. Naga rebels have been sourcing guns from Chinese factories on the Myanmar-China border. The guns are smuggled across the Burma border at Ruili and then trucked via Lashio, Mandalay and Monywa up to the Indian border.