By IANS,
Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh Friday flew to Delhi to meet Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to discuss the peace talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM).
The chief minister wants to know from Shinde the central government’s ideas on settling the lingering Naga insurgency, a senior minister in the Ibobi cabinet said.
Ibobi’s visit comes a day after the Manipur cabinet formed a four-member cabinet sub-committee to monitor developments in the Naga peace dialogue after Shinde hinted that a pact with the NSCN-IM was likely before March.
The committee headed by Ibobi also has Home Minister G. Gaikhangam, Revenue Minister Th Debendra and Health and Family Welfare Minister Phungzathang Tonsing.
“The committee has been formed to keep a close tab on likely developments which might affect the territorial integrity of Manipur,” the minister told IANS on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the United Committee of Manipur (UCM) threatened to launch a mass campaign in case the state and central governments acted in a manner that adversely affected the people of Manipur.
The UCM is a rights group in Manipur which came into the limelight during the 2001 violence against the extension of the jurisdiction of the ceasefire with the NSCN-IM.
Naga insurgents have been fighting for an independent Nagaland for over six decades.
It NSCN-IM later demanded a “Greater Nagaland” by slicing off parts of neighbouring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh — to unite 1.2 million Nagas.
New Delhi and NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire in August 1997.