The ban on Northeast insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) was officially lifted by the Union Government today, giving a major fillip to the Naga peace process.The NSCN (IM) leaders Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu will now be allowed to enter the country after 37 years, to hold talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in December. The decision to allow the leaders to come to New Delhi for talks, by lifting the ban, was taken only after clearance by the PM. Isaac and Muivah were also likely to visit Nagaland after their talks in New Delhi.The Centre’s special emissary K. Padmanabhaiah had also held talks with Muivah in Italy earlier this week, sources said. The Centre had been observing a ceasefire with NSCN (IM) since 1997.While the Prime Minister had met the NSCN (IM) leaders in Japan last year, Padmanabhaiah had been holding peace talks with them in Bangkok and Amsterdam regularly. They had agreed in principle to come to India but had put the condition that the talks should involve the PM and the Deputy PM.
