Talks with Naga insurgent groups at advanced stage: Govt

Talks between Naga insurgent groups and the government are at an advanced stage, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy told Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question by Congress MP Manish Tewari, Reddy, however, did not share details regarding the negotiations.

"Naga political negotiations are at an advanced stage. Any disclosure of the details of the negotiations will be premature and prejudicial to the final settlement," the minister said.

Tewari had asked the government to provide details of the framework agreement signed between the Centre and the Naga underground groups in 2015.

He had also sought to know whether the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) and other Naga groups involved in the talks have dropped their demand of secession from the Indian Union.

The framework agreement was signed by NSCN (IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and a government interlocutor in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2015. It was reached after several rounds of talks with the NSCN(IM), which started in 1997.

To a related question by BJP MP Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Reddy said, "Significant progress has been made in these talks. Other Naga groups have also joined the peace process."

The minister told the House that adequate care is being taken to protect the interest of all stakeholders including the neighbouring states in the talks.