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The decision to come to India for the first time since the 1997 Centre-NSCN (I-M) ceasefire was taken by the outfit's leaders during three-day talks with the prime minister's special emissary K Padmanabhaiah in Amsterdam, which concluded on Thursday, a home ministry spokesman said in Delhi.
The invitation for the dialogue to be held in India was extended by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the NSCN (I-M) leadership through Padmanabhaiah, he said.
"The chairman and the general secretary of NSCN (Swu and Muivah), having accepted an invitation of the government of India, have expressed willingness to come to India, after the procedural aspects with regard to their visit have been taken care of, for further talks and to carry forward the peace dialogue," a home ministry spokesman in Delhi said.
He said the ceasefire between the government and NSCN (I-M) has also been further extended by one more year.
In Amsterdam, Padmanabhaiah held a fresh round of parleys with Swu and Muivah along with Intelligence Bureau chief K P Singh and other members of the Indian team since July nine.
Padmanabhaiah, before leaving for Amsterdam, had met Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani to discuss the Naga issue.
The talks focused on the ceasefire and efforts to bring about lasting peace in Nagaland.
In a bid to aid the process, the Nagaland government recently withdrawn certain criminal cases pending against Muivah, including an attempt on the life of Chief Minister S C Jamir in which two policemen were killed in 2000.
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