Morung Express News
October 19
KOHIMA/DIMAPUR: Union Minister of State for statistics and programme implementation Oscar Fernandez, who is also the head of the Group of Ministers (GoM) engaged in the Indo Naga-Political talks said that there has been advancement in the peace parleys with the NSCN (IM).
Oscar termed the recent talks in Bangkok as “fruitful,” adding some breakthrough has been made in the talks. Preferring to keep mum, he said the NSCN (IM) had put two points for discussion- one is autonomy and other is integration.
Speaking at the PCC members meeting at Congress Bhavan, Kohima, Fernandez who had recently participated in the peace talks in Bangkok, said the NSCN (IM) has also forwarded some more proposals against the proposals of the Government of India, which are being studied by the Government of India, he said.
He also emphasized the need of more and more such meetings to remove the deadlock and make a breakthrough of the Naga political issue.
Later during the day, Fernandes told newsmen at Dimapur that he was unaware of the contents of a booklet which carries an interim plan which could be utilized by the Central Government towards addressing the Indo-Naga problem. On the ‘federal relationship’ proposed by the NSCN (IM), the Congress leader said some issues which are feasible would be accepted straight away while others need time for consultations and deliberations. “The talks are not conclusive,” he said. When asked to reveal if Delhi had any plans to involve the NSCN (K) in active dialogue process, he said progress on the talks with the IM group would pave way towards “considering the whole problem.”
