Dimapur, Dec 5 (IANS): Indian peace negotiators and leaders of a Nagaland separatist group Tuesday ended two days of talks in Amsterdam although the outcome of the parleys was not immediately known, a rebel leader said here.
“We are yet to get the feedback from our leaders in Amsterdam although we just heard the talks ended,” V Horam, a senior leader of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), told IANS by telephone.
The government team for the talks was led by Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes and New Delhi’s main peace interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah, while guerrilla leader Thuingaleng Muivah headed the team of the NSCN-IM, the main rebel group in Nagaland.
The two sides are expected to give a joint statement later Tuesday detailing the outcome of the talks.
The talks reportedly centred on the NSCN-IM’s demand for a special federal relationship between India and Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) that allows self-governance to the rebels.
The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997 and it has been renewed regularly. The present ceasefire expires June 2007.
The rebel leadership during talks in October proposed ‘a special federal arrangement’ that enables the Nagas self-governance although the negotiations ended inconclusively.
The rebels are seeking a separate Naga constitution under the special federal relationship.
