Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by SPN Editor
In what was called a “historic development,” the Centre’s interlocutor AK Mishra on Tuesday visited the NSCN-IM’s headquarters Camp Hebron near Dimapur and met its general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and a few other leaders.
The NSCN-IM leader said that the discussion on Tuesday lasted for a little more than two hours. “It was a closed-door meeting just between two of them (Muivah and Mishra),” he said.
Former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mishra, who replaced R N Ravi as the interlocutor last year, arrived in Nagaland on Monday to discuss the vexed Naga political issue. He is expected to meet the state government’s core committee as well as the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) during his stay.
The meeting comes a week after Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Deputy CM Y Patton and former chief minister T R Zeliang met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to discuss the status of peace talks, which have hit a roadblock since 2019.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Patton said that while Tuesday’s outcome of the discussion had not been disclosed, it was likely to be a “fruitful” one. “We will also be meeting with A K Mishra within a day or two,” he said, adding that the recent meeting between the Nagaland government and Shah and PM Modi was “positive.”
“The topic of the Naga flag is an issue, but we are hopeful that it will be hammered out soon during talks,” he said.