Nagaland govt hopeful of solution to Naga political issue during PM Modi's third term: Minister Temjen Imna Along

Kohima: The Nagaland government is hopeful and confident of a Naga political solution during the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, a state minister said.

"In this new government of the NDA led by PM Modi, the state government would love to see the mitigation of the Naga political issue positively," Nagaland government spokesperson and Tourism and Higher Education minister Temjen Imna Along said on Thursday.

He said the Nagas need to be assertive to help build the confidence of the state government and also the Central government to come together with the Naga political groups that are in talks with the Centre to find a solution to the decades-old Naga problem.

"To be able to solve that we all have to come together and that should be done first because it cannot be resolved without sitting down and talking," he said.

The Nagaland government has constituted a 'Political Affairs Committee' (PAC) comprising ministers and legislature party leaders of all political parties in the state Assembly to find an inclusive solution to the Naga Political issue.

"The state government is committed to see that our people have lasting peace for development and progress," he said.

The Centre and NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire agreement in 1997 and started dialogue to find a solution to the Naga issue while both sides inked the Framework Agreement in 2015.

The Central government also started a separate dialogue with the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (WC NNPGs) in 2017 and also inked the Agreed Position the same year.

However, there has been no solution till date with the Centre refusing the NSCN-IM's consistent demand for a separate flag and constitution of the Naga people and integration of all Naga inhabited areas under one umbrella.

Asked about differences cropping within the Peoples' Democratic Alliance (PDA) – a pre-poll partnership between the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and BJP following the debacle in the Lok Sabha election, he said "The PDA is intact".

"It is just the presumption and assumption of the many critics but in politics many things happen but the core value of the PDA is always strong and will continue to give stability and good governance as far as possible to the people of Nagaland," he said.

NDPP candidate Chumben Murry lost in the recent Lok Sabha polls to S Supongmeren Jamir of Congress.

"In every election one or the other issue crops up, but the PDA alliance under the leadership of Chief Minister Rio and the Deputy Chief Ministers Y Patton of BJP and T R Zeliang of NDPP have an agenda and the agenda is Nagaland," he said.