Nagas-Manipur on the edge as Naga talks reach a critical stage

The Nagaland and Manipur are on the edge as Centre has been pushing hard negotiation seeking an "accord" by  October 31 sans ' Naga flag and constitution' .

At this moment talks are being held at New Delhi on a daily basis as Centre was determined to extract the Accord by October 31 while NSCN(IM) urged the Centre not to insist on the deadline.

Thetalk on Monday was chaired by Nagaland Governor RN Ravi, who is also theCentre's interlocutor, while the NSCN(I-M) delegation was led by Th Muivah. Topofficials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Intelligence Bureau alsojoined the meeting.

Thenext round of peace talks to end the Naga issue scheduled for October 31, theNagaland and Manipur governments have taken steps to meet any eventuality andhave put their respective police forces on "high alert".

TheNagaland government has directed all deputy commissioners of the districts andadministrative officers to remain in their place of posting and within theirjurisdiction till further orders.

According to NSCN(IM) sources, the Centre may not insist on October 31 deadline but that was not independently verified.

RNRavi is, meanwhile, scheduled to hold yet another round of meeting with theNaga National Political Groups (NNPG) today.

In the negotiating table, the NSCN(IM) is increasingly being isolated as the Centre wants to push the Accord without the Naga flag and constitution.  This is the deadlock as the Naga side has also remained steadfast.