Kohima, Aug 16 (IANS): Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Sunday said that his government continues to pursue the final solution of the Naga political issue, which is "as old as this nation itself".

Hoisting the tricolour in the Independence Day's main function at Kohima's Secretariat Plaza, he said that hopes have risen to a great extent, as in recent years, the Naga political groups have been in ceasefire with the government for a long time and the peace talks over the years have made significant progress.

Rio also said that the Naga people sincerely appreciate the Centre for recognising the unique history and position of the Naga people and for acknowledging the problem as a political issue.

He said that the state government has, over the past years, played the role of active facilitator to the ongoing political peace talks, and that a Parliamentary Committee on Naga political issue consisting of all members of the Nagaland Assembly and the state's two MPs was formed to give further impetus to the peace talks and help arrive at the final solution at the earliest.

"A core committee was constituted to ensure a focused approach in our role as facilitator," Rio said, adding that it has appealed to both sides to move forward with a positive approach of mutual respect and set aside pre-conditions in the greater interest of the people's cry for long term peace.

He also announced that all the elected members of the Assembly have come together, irrespective of political party affiliations, on the issue and common peoples' issues. The Chief Minister said that taking this spirit of collectiveness further, in the recently concluded session of the Assembly, the members unanimously passed a resolution appealing to the negotiating parties on the same lines as resolved by the core committee.

"As the country crosses the landmark of 75 years, it is an occasion to celebrate the remarkable contributions of Nagaland and Nagas in the journey of our great nation thus far," Rio remarked.

Referring to the Nagaland-Assam border issue, the Chief Minister said that Nagaland have a long standing inter-state border dispute with Assam, but pro-active steps were taken to de-escalate the situation along the 512 km border. He added that a select committee of the Assembly has also been constituted to examine all aspects of the issue.