By Ashok Sharma
Talk Key Issue: Sovereignty of ”Greater Nagaland”
India is offering wide autonomy to Naga people as it already has rejected the rebels' demand for an independent homeland in northeastern India bordering Myanmar, where most of the 2 million Nagas live. The Naga rebels began fighting for their demand more than 50 years ago, although a cease-fire has held since it was signed in 1997.
The rebels' meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lasted 40 minutes, said Imcha Longkumer, a spokesman for the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. He declined to give details.
There was no immediate official comment on Tuesday's meeting. The five-member delegation of rebels was led by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland General Secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah.
However, G.K. Pillai, the federal home secretary, said last week that there was no question of accepting the rebels' demand for a sovereign homeland outside India.
"It is also impractical to redraw state boundaries to facilitate the Nagas living in northeastern states to live together. We are considering granting them a good deal of autonomy so that their hopes and aspirations can be taken care of," said Pillai.
The last round of talks between Indian officials and the rebel leaders was held in Zurich in Switzerland in March last year.
The rebel leaders were to meet India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram later Tuesday, said Longkumer.
Indian officials have in the past met the rebel leaders in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia for negotiations since the 1997 cease-fire came into force.
Muivah is visiting New Delhi at the invitation of the Indian government and his group has submitted a set of proposals to the Indian government, but details were not known.
He mostly lives in Thailand and the Netherlands.
Nagas mainly live in the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
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