Rebel Naga leaders in Delhi for talks

New Delhi, Feb 28 (ANI): The banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) - Isak Muivah faction chairman Isak Chisi Swu along with its General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah have arrived here for talks with the Central Government in a bid to take the vexed Naga peace process forward.

Isak and Muivah will hold talks with the government's newly appointed points man R. S. Pandey.

Pandey has replaced former Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah, who held talks with the Naga insurgent leadership for over nine years.

Isak and Muivah are coming to India after more than three years and are based in Amsterdam.

Both are also expected to meet Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. (ANI)

Muivah has set the tone for the talks by saying the rebel outfit will not withdraw its demand for sovereignty for a Greater Nagaland.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told newsmen in Dimapur on Saturday, "Muivah accepted the invitation from the Government of India communicated through the new Interlocutor R S Pandey to resume the peace dialogue."

Ahead of meetings with political leadership, the Naga leaders will hold talks with Pandey on March two and three, they said.

The two leaders were also expected to visit Nagaland besides addressing to the issue of clashes between the cadres of NSCN-IM and its rival NSCN (Khaplang), which resulted in unrest in the recent past.

Government sources said they would try and iron out differences with the NSCN-IM, which has proposed a federal relationship with the Indian Union. (ANI)