NSCN’s I & M are here to meet PM

Rekindling hopes of an end to the decades-old insurgency in the Naga hills, the two top leaders of insurgent major NSCN (I-M) flew into New ...

Rekindling hopes of an end to the decades-old insurgency in the Naga hills, the two top leaders of insurgent major NSCN (I-M) flew into New Delhi from Amsterdam late tonight.

Cheered by hundreds of supporters singing ‘We shall overcome’, NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah were received at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by the Centre’s emissary K Padmanabhaiah.

Isak and Muivah are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil during their week-long stay in Delhi. They will then move to Nagaland.

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‘‘In the invitation of the Prime Minister, we see a great wisdom for a peaceful political solution. We praise the Prime Minister, Madam Sonia Gandhi and all leaders who are for a peaceful solution,’’ Muivah said.

‘‘For us it is of great importance and we want to settle it. The solution will have to be on the basis of the uniqueness of the history of Nagas. Apart from that no solution will bring peace,’’ he said.

Isak said: ‘‘We are meeting the Prime Minster and we are hoping to establish good relations with the Government.’’

The latest round of talks would be the second time the NSCN leaders are interacting with the Centre at this level since the ceasefire in 1997.

Modi will address a rally in the district and open the Purnea airport that will provide air connectivity to several metro cities, fulfilling a longstanding demand in the Seemanchal region.

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