A dialogue between Naga insurgent outfit NSCN-(IM) and the Centre, which was to begin here today, has been put off till tomorrow. While the Home Ministry maintains the Monday evening meeting between NSCN-(IM) chairman Isak Chishi Swu, general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and Minister Shivraj Patil was postponed because of Patil’s commitments at Parliament, sources indicated that the two leaders were keen to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh first, as it was he who had invited them from Amsterdam for peace talks. Now, Swu and Muivah are scheduled to meet Patil at 12.30 pm tomorrow after a meeting the PM at 11 am. They are also likely to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi later this week.The self-exiled NSCN-(IM) leaders will also be firming up a date for delegation-level talks with the government in the next few days, before departing for Nagaland on December 12 or 13. They are expected to stop over in the Capital on their way from Nagaland. While in Delhi, the two leaders are also expected to meet Naga student groups.Though Swu has emphasised the openness with which the NSCN (I-M) means to hold discussions with the Government, he said any solution to the Nagaland issue would have to whole-heartedly encompass the “uniqueness regarding the history of the Naga people”.The tone for peace talks was set by Muivah who said, “We will negotiate whenever and wherever they want us to, as the solution to the problem can emerge only through talks.” The group has for long demanded the creation of a Greater Nagaland, which spills into neighbouring states including Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The two leaders were in India last year, at which time they held talks with then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and deputy PM L.K. Advani.
