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Ceasefire with NSCN extended by three months

The Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) have mutually decided to announce further extension of the current ceasefire for a period of three months with effect from May 1.

Both sides agreed that with the extension of the current ceasefire, political discussions should start.

According to an official statement, the ceasefire with the NSCN, which has been in force in Nagaland for the last nine months, has by and large held. During the ceasefire, the level of violence has come down and the general public have welcomed it.

The public in Nagaland is in favour of extension of the ceasefire, and the state government had also urged the Government of India to extend the ceasefire.

The security forces have been asked to take appropriate action in case of violation of the ceasefire.

In a major initiative, the United Front government headed by I K Gujral, had clinched the agreement after detailed behind-the- scene discussions with various Naga leaders on August 1 last year. Though the agreement was initially for three months, it has already been extended three times.

The sources said efforts were on to rope in the other powerful militant group -- the NSCN-Kaplang which is posing serious problems to the smooth implementation of the ceasefire agreement. The two incidents on April 7 and 14 involving this group had forced the central forces to mount a counter-insurgency operation against it.

The government is planning to restart negotiations with the underground militant groups, the sources said. Asked whether such meetings were being planned outside the country, they said experience had proved that Delhi was a better place to hold talks.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has convened a meeting of chief ministers of all eight north-eastern states in New Delhi on May 8 to discuss the region's economic development.

The meeting will be attended by the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Jaswant Singh, besides several Cabinet ministers holding charge of economic ministries.

According to sources in the home ministry, the meeting has been convened because the government wanted to give priority to the north-eastern region. The prime minister had visited Guwahati earlier this month and discussed the problems of the region with some of the chief ministers.

Though the law and order situation would also be discussed, the main thrust would be on the economic development of the region, the sources said.

The North-Eastern Council was set up a long time ago for the coordinated economic development of the region, with the Arunachal Pradesh governor as its chairman. The next meeting of the council is scheduled at Dimapur in Nagaland on April 30, which will be attended by governors and chief ministers of all North-Eastern states.

The government proposes to amend the North-Eastern Council Act to make changes in the existing set-up. According to the proposal, the council will be reconstituted with the Planning Commission deputy chairman as its chief and all the chief ministers of the region as members .The governors would cease to be members of the council, the sources said. The government had prepared a draft amendment bill, which might come up in the next session of Parliament, the sources added.

UNI

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