In a historic development, Centre and NSCN(IM) Monday signed a peace agreement to usher in peace and development in the North Eastern region on the occasion, PM Narendra Modi said that the pact can show the way for resolution of other insurgency problems in the rest of the country.
NSCN(IM) general secretary T Muivah hailed PM Narendra Modi’s vision and statesmanship . Leading to the resolution of the issue after 6 decades .He also assured co-operation of Nagas in implementing govt’s policies in the North East.
Monday marked a historic step in the Naga peace process with the Centre signing a peace accord with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland(IM) in New Delhi.
The pact signed in the presence of the Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval by the outfit’s leader T Muivah and government’s interlocutor R N Ravi at the PM’s residence marking the the culmination of over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 16 years.
Witnessing the watershed moment in the Naga peace process, the Prime Minister said that the accord will show the way for the end in insurgencies in other parts of the country.
Lauding the courage and wisdom of the Naga leaders and civil society Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked them for their co-operation in reaching the agreement and expressed confidence that the agreement will open a glorious new chapter for the Naga people to build a bright future for Nagaland and also contribute to the nation with a sense of pride and confidence and he hoped that NSCN(IM) will join the development process in the state.
Insurgent groups have been active in Nagaland since 1965.
Their demand was for a separate state of greater Nagaland merging the Naga dominaated areas in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh which they believed was the only solution to the complex Naga issue.
But this demand was opposed by all three states especially Manipur.
Rifts developed within the movement in Nagaland and several factions emerged. The NSCN split into two 1988 the Muivah faction and the NSCN Khaplang faction. There have been over 80 rounds of negotiations after which several agreements were inked the first of which was an agreement in 1964 with the Naga National Council.
The next was a ceasefire agreement in 1997 with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Muivah group. Followed by another ceasfire agreement in 2001 with NSCN Khaplang group.
The new Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accorded highest priority to this lingering problem. The Prime Minister has on a number of occasions, including during visits to the Northeast region, articulated his vision for transforming the Northeast and has attached the highest priority to peace, security, connectivity and economic development in the region.
This has also been at the heart of the Government’s foreign policy, especially ‘Act East’ Policy. The sustained dialogue between the two sides led by this vision have resulted in this historic and equitable agreement.
And thus history was written under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi putting an end to the six-decade-old Naga problem which he termed as one of the tragedies of Independent India and an example for resolution of insurgencies in other parts of the country