Centre’s emissary AK Mishra holds talks with Naga groups on peace process

KOHIMA: The Centre’s emissary for Naga peace talks, AK Mishra, arrived in Nagaland on Thursday along with other representatives of the Union government and met the working committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) at Dimapur in Nagaland.

The NNPGs, a coalition of seven Naga groups, have been in talks with the Centre and signed an “Agreed Position” in 2017.

In a statement following their meeting on Thursday, the conglomerate said the NNPG committee, led by newly appointed convener MB Neokpao, and working conveners P. Tikhak Naga and Isak Sumi, also discussed building political consensus among Naga political groups and stakeholders to expedite the resolution of the issue in a broad-based manner, ensuring no stakeholders are excluded.

“The ongoing efforts by various Naga civil society organisations to bring unanimity among conflicting NPGs has also been reviewed. Further, the house stressed on the need to maintain consistency and continuity of the process with patience, commitment and clarity until the logical conclusion of the issue,” the NNPGs statement read.

The Centre’s team led by Mishra, who is adviser to the Union home ministry, is expected to meet the Isak-Muivah-led National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), with which it had signed the Framework Agreement in 2015.

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“There has been tension between the two parties after the Centre refused to officially recognize a separate Naga flag and Naga constitution to resolve the decades-old Naga political issue,” said an official familiar with the matter.

Mishra also met the parallel working committee led by N Kitovi Zhimomi.

Zhimomi, impeached by his group — the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Unification) — in April 2024, continues to claim legitimacy of his breakaway group under the same nomenclature, and his position as the convener of the NNPG working committee. The NSCN-U was since taken over by Zhimomi’s former colleague Alezo Venuh and Neokpao was appointed convener of the working committee.