PM holds meet on Naga ceasefire

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 2. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, tonight held a high- level review meeting on the freshly-extended Naga ceasefire agreement. The meeting was attended by the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, the Army chief, General S. Padmanabhan, and the Home Secretary, Mr. Kamal Pande.

Sources said the meeting took note of the demand made by several northeast Chief Ministers to replace the Centre's emissary, Mr. K. Padmanabhaiah, with someone who understood the sensitivities of the people of the region. Mr. Padmanabhaiah, former Home Secretary, is scheduled to leave for Amsterdam on August 4 to hold further talks with the NSCN (I-M) leadership.

The name of Mr. P.A. Sangma, former Lok Sabha Speaker and NCP leader, had come up for appointing him as the Centre's special emissary for Naga talks but there was no ``finality'' on it. It is learnt that Congress Chief Ministers of the northeast had expressed reservations about Mr. Sangma's candidature.

Ceasefire implementation

PTI reports:

The Centre today said the modified ground rules for the ceasefire between it and the NSCN(I-M) would be observed in ``letter and spirit'' during the year-long truce extension period till July 2002.

``The ceasefire is in force in Nagaland. Both sides have decided to meet as often as possible to ensure mutual trust and to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution,'' a Home Ministry spokesman said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : VHP chief justifies demolition
Next     : Phoolan's security was not scaled down