Centre, NSCN-IM hold fresh talks

NEW DELHI, May 2 ? In a bid to further the Naga peace process, Centre?s interlocutor for Nagaland, K Padmanabhaiah and Intelligence Bureau chief KP Singh will hold fresh talks with the leadership of the key insurgent group NSCN (I-M) from Thursday in Bangkok and are likely to discuss various aspects of the ongoing ceasefire. Padmanabhaiah and Singh are expected to meet NSCN (I-M) leaders T Muivah and Isak Swu during the two-day talks, which are taking place about three months ahead of the expiry of the ceasefire deadline of July 31, informed source said Wednesday. Padmanabhaiah has in the past met NSCN (I-M) leaders at Bangkok and The Hague, and has arranged their meetings with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in France and Japan. The fresh Centre-NSCN (I-M) parleys in the Thai capital also assume significance as they come four days after the Government?s decision to extend by another year from April 28 the ceasefire with militant outfit NSCN (Khaplang), a rival of NSCN (I-M). The sources said the NSCN (I-M) is likely to put forward a ?blue print? for peace during its meeting with Padmanabhaiah and Singh. They said the Centre has already withdrawn the arrest warrants against Muivah and Swu, and is considering other steps to allow them to come to India. According to the Home Ministry, there have been persistent demands from the people of Nagaland, NGOs, Church leaders and the State Government that formal ceasefire should be entered into with other militant Naga groups. The Centre had entered into a ceasefire accord with the NSCN (I-M) on August one, 1997, and has since been extending it every year.