Kohima, February 14 (IANS): The central government has shortlisted two more people for appointment as the interlocutor for the peace talks with the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), an official said Friday.
“We have shortlisted two more names - Lt.Gen. (retd.) N.C. Marwah and R.N. Singh - for the appointment of an interlocutor for the peace talks with the union government and the NSCN-IM,” a top official in the union home ministry told IANS, insisting on anonymity.
“The process is on to finalise the name of either of the retired Indian Army generals. We are hoping that the government will announce the name of the interlocutor after the parliament session,” he said. Both Marwah and Singh had served in the northeastern states and were involved in the counter-insurgency operations at various levels.
Earlier, former Nagaland chief secretary R.S. Pandey, who was the chief negotiator for talks with the Naga rebel group, resigned and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Bihar’s Valmikinagar.
Four names - Lt. Gen. (retd.) R.N. Kapur, former Assam Police chief G.M. Srivastava, Joint Intelligence Committee chairman Ajit Lal, who is a former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, and R.N. Ravi, who retired as Intelligence Bureau special director - are doing the rounds. The union government and the NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire agreement in August 1997.
