Kohima, Apr 18 (IANS): Central government envoy A.K. Mishra, who held his first round of talks with major Naga groups including the NSCN-IM and others six months ago, arrived here on Monday to carry forward the discussions, officials said.
A senior state government official said that Mishra, a former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, would meet Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and others and the leaders of Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and Naga National Political Groups (NNPG).
During his week-long staym he would also meet members of the core committee on Naga political issues headed by the Chief Minister, the official said declining to disclose further details.
Mishra was assigned with the Naga peace talks after transfer of Nagaland Governor Ravindra Narayan Ravi, who was the Centre's interlocutor in the Naga peace talks for many years, to Tamil Nadu.
There was an open difference of opinion between NSCN-IM and Ravi leading to the deadlock in the peace process.
Mishra, during his visit to Nagaland in September last year, also discussed the Naga issue with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the Convener of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
Chief Minister Rio, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton, United Democratic Alliance Chairman T.R. Zeliang and newly-elected Rajya Sabha Member S. Phangnon Konyak met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah on April 13 in New Delhi and discussed the Naga issue. However, nothing has been disclosed yet about these crucial discussions.
During the Assembly session last month, all legislators, cutting across party lines, strongly urged the Centre to settle the issue at the earliest, as Assembly elections are in the state early next year.
The Centre has been separately holding peace talks with the NSCN-IM and eight other Naga groups, which came together a few years ago under the banner of NNPGs. The NSCN-IM and other outfits entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997 and since then, both sides held more than 85 rounds of negotiations. A Framework Agreement between the two was signed on August 3, 2015 and the agreed position between the government and the NNPG on November 17, 2017.
However, the NSCN-IM's insistence on a separate Naga flag and Constitution became a hurdle.