Neighbours need not worry about territory: Nagaland CM

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the states bordering Nagaland do not have to worry about their territory as the content of the Naga peace accord was not yet out.

"Nagaland's bordering states do not have to worry about their territory as the content of the Naga accord is not known to anybody. I also do not know anything about the accord. There is a need for the government to solve the Naga issue and it is doing it steadily," Zeliang told a TV channel after meeting Modi.

He said the question of disturbing anyone's territory does not arise as the issue was just about solving the Naga problem that has prevailed for decades.

"The government is steadily solving the problem of the Nagas... The insurgency problem will also be solved slowly," he said.

Zeliang said though he and the other northeastern states were consulted by the central government over the accord, nobody knew about the exact content of the accord.

He said he will meet the Naga peace talks interlocuter R.N. Ravi on August 16 over the issue.

On August 3, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the central government signed the Naga peace accord, settling an almost 20-year-old peace negotiation process that started in 1997 after the group signed a ceasefire agreement.

The northeastern states with Congress governments on Friday said Prime Minister Modi did not consult the chief ministers of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam with whom Nagaland shares its boundaries.