New Delhi, Mar 3 (IANS): Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has said that the Framework Agreement signed between the government and the NSCN-IM in August 2015 is a "confidence- building step" that has helped take the talks forward and expressed hope of reaching a settlement soon to the Naga issue.

"The Framework Agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) is a kind of confidence-building step on the basis of which talk will progress. So the final talks, which are going on, will conclude once all issues are hammered out. I think it shouldn't take much time," Rijiju told India Today news channel.

He said all issues were being monitored closely. "Our interlocutor is briefing us closely on the progress of the talks. Everything is moving very, very smoothly," he said.

Rijiju said the Naga issue is not a recent one and has existed even before independence.

"It is a serious issue to which we must give serious thought to before we can just spell out anything. There are certain things, for example, sovereignty. Sovereignty cannot be something we can compromise on," he said.

Answering a query, he said there is no question of divulging the Framework Agreement "because it is just a step which has given us a direction on the basis of which talks should progress."

"The details will come out when the accord is finally signed," he said.