ejaz007
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Peace talks between India, Naga rebels set for Tuesday
NEW DELHI: The Indian government will hold talks with Nagaland separatists to strike a peace deal, a rebel Naga leader said on Sunday.
Leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), which is fighting for the expansion of the mountainous Nagaland state in Indias remote northeast into a Greater Nagaland, arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday from self-imposed exile in The Netherlands.
Guerrilla leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah said they were invited by the Indian government to hold talks and were optimistic that several key demands would be accepted.
It is a pretty long time that we have been talking to the government of India. In more than 10 years, they could not solve the problem so they are responsible for that, said Thuingaleng Muivah.
The rebel groups demand for a Greater Nagaland that would unite 1.2 million Nagas has been strongly opposed by the surrounding neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Muivah said the group would not withdraw the demand. No, sovereignty cannot be withdrawn because sovereignty is with the people ... We have been told that the government of India has arranged some counter-proposals from their side. I dont know how far that is practicable or acceptable to us, he said.
Meanwhile, Indias Home Secretary G.K Pillai said on Saturday demands for sovereignty or integration of Naga rebel groups were not feasible.
New Delhi and the rebels entered into a ceasefire in August 1997, which was indefinitely extended in 2007 but the separatists have accused the Indian government of using the ceasefire as cover to tighten its grip and of jeopardising a peace process.
India and the rebels of Nagaland state, bordering China and Myanmar, have held at least 50 rounds of peace talks in over a decade to end one of South Asias longest-running insurgencies. The dispute has claimed around 25,000 lives since Indias independence from Britain in 1947. afp
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
NEW DELHI: The Indian government will hold talks with Nagaland separatists to strike a peace deal, a rebel Naga leader said on Sunday.
Leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), which is fighting for the expansion of the mountainous Nagaland state in Indias remote northeast into a Greater Nagaland, arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday from self-imposed exile in The Netherlands.
Guerrilla leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah said they were invited by the Indian government to hold talks and were optimistic that several key demands would be accepted.
It is a pretty long time that we have been talking to the government of India. In more than 10 years, they could not solve the problem so they are responsible for that, said Thuingaleng Muivah.
The rebel groups demand for a Greater Nagaland that would unite 1.2 million Nagas has been strongly opposed by the surrounding neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Muivah said the group would not withdraw the demand. No, sovereignty cannot be withdrawn because sovereignty is with the people ... We have been told that the government of India has arranged some counter-proposals from their side. I dont know how far that is practicable or acceptable to us, he said.
Meanwhile, Indias Home Secretary G.K Pillai said on Saturday demands for sovereignty or integration of Naga rebel groups were not feasible.
New Delhi and the rebels entered into a ceasefire in August 1997, which was indefinitely extended in 2007 but the separatists have accused the Indian government of using the ceasefire as cover to tighten its grip and of jeopardising a peace process.
India and the rebels of Nagaland state, bordering China and Myanmar, have held at least 50 rounds of peace talks in over a decade to end one of South Asias longest-running insurgencies. The dispute has claimed around 25,000 lives since Indias independence from Britain in 1947. afp
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan