Guwahati: In what appears to be a major success, the ongoing peace talks between the Prime Minister’s envoy R.N. Ravi and the collective leadership of the NSCN (I-M) has succeeded in creating a consensus on all the major contentious issues.
The focus of the peace process is now to take all stakeholders, including neighbouring states on board by addressing their concerns.
When contacted by this newspaper, Ravi, who is also the governor of Nagaland, said they succeeded in sorting out the differences on all contentious issues by tightening some loose ends. He also clarified that the Centre had not agreed to any separate flag for Nagaland state. Ravi, however, said that if some group wants to
use a flag for non-governmental purposes, it would not be an issue for the Centre.
Saying that after settling all issues with NSCN (I-M) and the NNPGs, Ravi said his focus in the next phase would be address the concern of all stakeholder states.
“We are going to hold talks and start consultations with all stakeholder states, particularly Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, to take them on board,” he said, saying the Centre would not sign the Naga peace agreement in isolation.
All stakeholders will be taken into confidence, Ravi said, expressing satisfaction on concluding the talks with the NSCN (I-M) and the NNPGs.
Clarifying that the government wasn’t going to raise any objection to the use of a separate Naga flag for all non-governmental purposes, security sources said the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M) had agreed to resolve the issue of a separate constitution and the “Greater Nagaland” demand through a democratic process after signing the peace agreement.
