The Union government will appoint a political negotiator to hold parleys with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) in a day or two, Minister of State for Home Affairs I D Swami told rediff.com on Thursday.
"The government has two names before it. One is that of Minister of Divestment Arun Shourie, who is also chairman of the committee on the Northeast, and the other is that of Defence Minister George Fernandes, who has been following the developments in the region," he said.
He ruled out the possibility of appointing former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma. "[Congress president] Sonia Gandhi had once struck down his name when he had conveyed his willingness to take over the negotiations. The second reason is that he will be busy with the assembly election in Meghalaya," he added.
Swami reiterated that the talks with the Naga leaders would be held under the framework of the Constitution.
"There is no question of talking about independence of Nagaland," he said.
After the preliminary talks with chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, the government was confident that the future parleys would be smooth.
"The fact that they have agreed to hold talks in India and have travelled on Indian passports is a big achievement. The boundary issue is far off. Let the talks begin first and other things will follow in due course.
"If they want more powers, the government is willing to consider those demands... the government is committed to devolution of powers as recommended by the Justice R S Sarkaria commission," he added.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who had twice intervened when talks between government negotiator K Padmanabhaiah and Isak-Muivah had reached a deadend, had reached Delhi at the behest of the Centre and the Naga leaders, he said.
"Since the government is serious about the talks it would like to take the help of all those who can help, including Zoramthanga," Swami said.
Zoramthanga will meet the Naga leaders on Friday afternoon to pave the way for the formal parleys, which begin on January 20.
Meanwhile, Isak and Muivah met leaders from various political parties at the residence of former prime minister V P Singh on Thursday evening.
Among those who came were former prime minister I K Gujral, advocate Ram Jethmalani, Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal-United, Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Jana Shakti Party, Swami Agnivesh and Sitaram Yechuri of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Former prime minister Deve Gowda and Sonia Gandhi did not come.
Muivah said he was highly appreciative of the response from the political parties. "The exchange of ideas was really good," he added.
V P Singh said that the government should call an all-party meeting and take the political parties into confidence about the stand that it would take during the talks.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal said that an all-party meeting was important because the talks would deal with delicate issues, which could have an impact on the integrity of the country.
