A tribal separatist group in India's troubled north-eastern state of Nagaland Sunday said it was ready to begin peace talks with the new Congress-led government in New Delhi.
"We shall sit for political level talks with the federal government soon with an open mind," K. Mulatonu, publicity chief of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location in Nagaland.
"If the government of India is willing to solve the problem, we on our part are equally ready to extend an extra arm to resolve the crisis."
The NSCN (Khaplang), fighting for an independent homeland for the tribal Nagas, had entered into a cease-fire with the Indian government on April 28 2001 to pave the way for ending more than five decades of violent insurgency in Nagaland.
Peace talks with the rival NSCN faction led by guerrilla leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah are in progress but formal negotiations with Khaplang's rebel group have yet to begin.
"Before we start the talks, we want New Delhi to appoint an interlocutor who knows and understands the problems of the region well," Mulatonu said.
"We shall want someone to be appointed as chairman of the cease-fire supervisory board to act as a bridge between the NSCN (Khaplang) and the security forces to avoid any misunderstanding between the two sides."
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