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New Delhi, Feb. 9 (PTI): The Centre on Tuesday said peace talks with Naga insurgent groups are at an advanced stage and no time-frame for agreement can be given now.
Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said this in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha raised by Nagaland’s lone Member of Parliament Tokheho Yepthomi.
"Negotiations with Naga groups are at an advanced stage. However, no time-frame for agreement can be indicated at this stage," he said.
The NSCN-IM had signed a Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015 in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a permanent solution to the vexed Naga issue.
The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India's independence in1947.
However, the talks with the NSCN-IM is currently going nowhere as the group has been insisting for a separate Naga flag and constitution, a demand rejected by the central government.