Assam CM meets NSCN (IM) leaders; says talks will take time

Our Reporter

Dimapur, Sep. 21 (EMN): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convenor of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), had an hour-long meeting with the NSCN (IM) led by its General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah at the Police Complex in Chümoukedima, Dimapur on Tuesday.

The meeting was held just a day after former special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Central government’s representative AK Mishra met with the NSCN (IM) leadership more than a year after the peace talks hit a deadlock following soured relationship between interlocutor RN Ravi and the group over the demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution.

Sarma told journalists before leaving for Assam on Tuesday that the talk with the NSCN (IM) was an ongoing process and ‘it would take time’.

The MIP Secretary of NSCN (IM) told Eastern Mirror after the meeting on Tuesday that Sarma had been deputed by Home Minister Amit Shah ‘for troubleshooting or taking the peace process forward’.

He also informed that the details of the day’s meeting between the NSCN (IM) and Sarma had ‘not yet been shared with him’, till the time of filing this report.

On the outcome of the meeting with Mishra on Monday, he stated that the NSCN (IM) led by Muivah had reiterated their commitment to the Framework Agreement and urged the Centre to follow it in letter and in spirit, which meant recognising a separate Naga flag and constitution.

Earlier in the day, Sarma who was accompanied by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, also held a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, state BJP president Temjen Imna Along, BJP National Spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon and others at Niathu Resort in Dimapur, before heading to meet the NSCN (IM) delegation in the afternoon.