Govt holds talks with Manipur’s Naga body

NEWDELHI: Nagaland governor RN Ravi, the chief interlocutor in talks with Naga rebels, on Friday urged Nagas in neighbouring Manipur to enable a resolution of the insurgency by forging a consensus on the need for a settlement. Expressing his concern at a meeting with leaders of the United Naga Council (UNC) of Manipur, the apex body of Naga tribes of Manipur, in Kohima,Ravi said a resolution cannot be arrived at without taking the “sensitivities of all stakeholders” into account.

Integration of all Naga-inhabited areas is a key demand of the Nagas. The Centre has refused to bring all Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative area. Forming autonomous councils for Naga-inhabited areas is one possibility on which both New Delhi and the Nagas have agreed upon.

Manipur has expressed its discomfort over the proposal. Manipur has a large Naga population and chief minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh has already said autonomous councils for just Naga-inhabited areas will not be acceptable to his state.

Ravi reminded the UNC of the need to restore the “traditional harmonious relations” among the hill and the valley people of Manipur.

The government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), the biggest Naga insurgent outfit, signed a framework agreement in 2015 in a bid to find a solution to the Naga issue. Talks have been underway between the Centre, NSCN-IM and seven other Naga outfits to conclude the peace effort.