Click to play videoNew Delhi: Top Naga leaders are all set to arrive in India to find a solution to the Naga insurgency issue.
Self-exiled leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), Thuingaleng Muivah, will arrive in New Delhi from Amsterdam on Wednesday after a gap of two years to discuss ways of ironing out issues with top Indian Government officials.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Nagas are offering special prayers for his safe arrival and hope that the talks - aimed at ending one of South Asia's longest running insurgencies spanning almost six decades - will come to some conclusion.
However, the Naga leaders are demanding a merger of adjoining districts with Nagaland - a contentious issue in Manipur, especially ahead of the February 2007 elections - something that the Prime Minister had hinted was not a possibility during his Manipur visit recently.
The NSCN-IM wants a Greater Nagaland by slicing off parts of three neighbouring states to unite 1.2 million Nagas. The demand is strongly opposed by Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
In their talks in Amsterdam in October, the rebels proposed "a special federal arrangement" to enable the Nagas self-governance although the negotiations ended inconclusively.
The rebels are seeking a separate Naga constitution under such a relationship.
Another self-exiled leader, Isak Chishi Swu is expected to arrive in India after Christmas.
"Everybody in Nagaland is praying for peace in Nagaland with all the Baptist churches holding special services," said Reverend Zhabu Theruza, general secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC).
This is only the second time in 39 years that NSCN-IM would hold peace talks on Indian soil. In 2004, Muivah and Swu met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi.
(With inputs from IANS)
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.