Naga issue: PM holds talks with rebel group

Osaka, December 8, 2001.
Away from prying eyes at home, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today had an hour-long meeting with the leaders of a major Naga rebel group in his effort to bring lasting peace to the trouble-torn region of the country. Mr Vajpayee, who arrived in the city yesterday evening, found time to have a direct dialogue with Mr Isaac Swu and Mr T. Muivah this afternoon. The two are leaders of the Isaac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).

Though the talks were supposed to be hush-hush, newsmen covering Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Japan came to know of it and sought clarifications from the government. After much deliberation, the official spokesman released a short statement confirming the visit. The statement said: “At the meeting, it was reiterated that a negotiated , peaceful political settlement remained the objective of the two sides. Further talks between the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M)will take place shortly.”

The PM was accompanied by Mr Brajesh Mishra, Principal Secretary to the PM, and Mr K. Padmanabhaiah, former Home Secretary.

Though the meeting was being speculated upon for the past couple of days, its duration and timing came as a surprise. It is believed that the rebel leaders spoke to Mr Vajpayee more freely and frankly.

However, Mr Vajpayee is not meeting the two leaders for the first time. He had met the group in Paris in 1998. This was subsequent to the peace talks that had begun with the Naga rebels in 1997 and the two sides had begun to discuss the conditions of ceasefire that they had agreed to a year ago.

The Government of India has been trying to bring the Naga rebels to the negotiating table for a long time. Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao had also met the rebels outside India. Later, Naga leaders had met the then PM, Mr Deve Gowda, during the economic summit in Switzerland in early 1997. The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire but the process was thwarted as the modalities could not be worked out.

During the past one year, there has been a dispute between the government and the rebels over the area to be covered by the ceasefire. It was at the insistence of the rebels that the ceasefire was extended to all parts of the country in June and it led to violent protests in Manipur.