Naga talks in Delhi on March 29

New Delhi, March 25 (PTI): In the backdrop of fresh clashes between rival Naga rebel factions, the Government will hold formal talks with the NSCN-IM here on March 29, the second round of parleys after two top leaders of the group arrived in the country in December last year. 

Apart from the violence in Nagaland, where three NSCN-IM cadres were killed yesterday allegedly by the rival Khaplang group, both sides are expected to discuss several key subjects, including unification of Naga-inhabited areas of the northeast and a “charter of demands” given by the rebels for a solution to the dragging problem. 

“We are expecting tangible discussions, something concrete,” senior NSCN-IM leader R H Raising said today. The NSCN-IM team, to be headed by chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, is likely to press for “total control” by the government over NSCN-K cadres who were allegedly behind recent attacks on NSCN-IM members. 

Two NSCN-IM cadres were kidnapped yesterday at A G Colony in Kohima town and later shot dead allegedly by NSCN-K militants. In another incident at lower NST colony in Wokha, NSCN-K members opened fire on cadres of NSCN-IM, killing a woman and injuring another. “Definitely, this issue (the clashes) will figure in the talks. They (NSCN-K) are being helped by some external forces,” Raising said. 

A group of ministers led by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes and the Centre’s interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah will represent the government. The result of the recent Manipur assembly polls is also expected to cast a shadow on the proposed talks since the Naga United Council backed by the NSCN-IM failed to have the desired impact in four hill districts of the state. The Congress formed the government in Manipur after getting a majority in the assembly. 

Muivah had arrived in India in December last year, while Swu came to the country in the first week of January. Since then, they have been in Nagaland for discussions with NSCN-IM cadres, civil society members and political leaders on the group’s key demands.