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Mail News Service
\nNew Delhi, Imphal Oct 16 : Chief minister O Ibobi Singh has said today that he wants to settle the Naga political issue once and for all. However, Ibobi Singh clarified that he was requested by Union Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to help and extend co-operation in solving the Naga issue but he was not in a position to oblige to the former\u2019s request \u201csince the ground on which the NSCN-IM and the government of India may settle is not known\u201d.
\n\u201cOn what matter or on what ground the government of India and the NSCN-IM may sign an agreement, we do not know. Since we do not know what has been conspired in the talk, it will be too early to give our stance,\u201d stated the Manipur chief minister.
\nTalking to reporters on the sidelines of an inspection tour in the outskirt of Imphal, Ibobi in response to a query said there is nothing that has the potential to cause unrest in Manipur by the ongoing Naga peace process.
\nHe made it clear that his recent visit to New Delhi was nothing to do with a serious discussion. He was invited to share and cooperate with the Union Home minister as Manipur being a northeast state.
\nAs of now, nothing concrete has been worked out regarding the issue so the people of Manipur should not worry and instead should maintain peace, the chief minister appealed
\nNew Delhi\u2019s main peace interlocutor for Naga peace talks, R.S. Pandey Tuesday said the peace process with the separatist leaders of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) is on the right direction.
\n\u201cThe peace process is on the right direction and I have held several meetings with them (NSCN-IM), but at the moment things are yet to concretise,\u201d Pandey said over a phone after a meeting with the Joint Legislators Forum led by Nagaland Assembly Speaker Kiyanielie Peseyie.
\nNagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, Home Minister Imkong Imchen, Leader of Opposition Congress Legislature Party leader Tokheho Yepthomi and Members of Lok Sabha Parliaments Khekiho Zhimomi and CM Chang were among the 20 JLF members have also met Naga separatist leaders – chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.
\nThe Assembly panel members would be meeting opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar other political leaders cutting across party affiliations.
\n\u201cThey (JLF) have also come and met this morning to assess progress of peace talks and we have shared our ideas during our discussions,\u201d the peace interlocutor for Naga peace talks, informed.
\nThe NSCN-IM has been struggling for nearly six decades to create a \u2018Greater Nagaland\u2019 by slicing off parts of three neighbouring states to unite 1.2 million Nagas. The demand is opposed by Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
\nThe NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997. They have held more than 50 rounds of peace talks to end one of South Asia\u2019s longest-running insurgencies that has killed 25,000 people since 1947.
\nAsked whether it is a fact that peace talks have reached a final phase of deliberations with Nagaland getting a separate flags on the lines of the red flag of Jammu and Kashmir and the Naga Assembly will be renamed as Tatar Hoho (Parliament), Pandey said, \u201cIt is not good to talk anything on it now. Anyone can speculate, but I am telling you things are yet to concretise.\u201d
\nOn the other hand, Nagaland Home Minister Imkong Imchen expressed optimism for an early settlement to the six decade Naga political issue with the Indian government.
\n\u201cWe are optimistic for an early settlement especially after Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde showed keen interest in resolving the Naga issue,\u201d Imchen said.
\n\u201cHe (Shinde) was very positive and very much committed and sincere to resolve the issue and he (Shinde) is also \u201cexploring wisdom\u201d as to how solution could be brought on the Naga imbroglio at the earliest,\u201d the Nagaland Home Minister stated.
\nMeanwhile, the NSCN (IM), one of the most influential separatist outfits in India\u2019s northeastern states, rubbished media reports claiming that the Indian government has secured a written commitment from the rebel outfit to remain within the Indian Constitution.
\n\u201cNo agreement was made by NSCN (I-M) and if any agreement was arrived at it would be made known to the public,\u201d TT Among, the \u2018Kilo kilonser\u2019 (home minister) of the NSCN (IM), said.
\nHe added: \u201cHence if any commitment of accepting the Indian constitution then that made it conditional, will not be accepted at any cost by the NSCN (I-M).\u201d
\nMoreover, Among also maintained that no one is authorised to make such statements except the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Home Minister (Sushi Kumar Shinde.He, however, said that the peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the Indian government is going on in a positive direction.
\nHowever, an intelligence official maintained that the Naga separatist leaders chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah has committed to the Indian constitution after they accepted the Indian citizenship and now possessed Indian passports to travel abroad.
\n\u201cThey may say now that they are not committed to the Indian constitution, but they have accepted to be an Indian citizen after possessing the Indian passport,\u201d an Indian official in the cabinet secretariat said on condition of anonymity.\u201cWe can now assume that both have come round to accept the fact that they are after all Indians,\u201d he added.
\nDuring earlier talks, the NSCN-IM had proposed \u201ca special federal arrangement\u201d to enable the Nagas self-governance but the negotiations ended inconclusively. The NSCN-IM wants a special federal relationship with India, with a separate Naga Constitution, and would like the Naga guerrillas to jointly guard the international borders alongside Indian security forces.<\/p>\n\n