The Government of India and the Naga Delegation led by the United Naga Council (UNC) could not come to a meeting point in their discussion on Free Movement Regime (FMR) and Border Fencing.
The meeting took place today in Delhi at the invitation of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. The Government of India delegation was led by AK. Mishra (Advisor North East) and other 7 officers.
Sources informed the Rural Post, “no concrete development took place in the meeting and the meeting ended without the usual group photo.”
The Naga Delegation had put forward their two key demands:
1. Free Movement Regime (FMR) should be reinstated.
2. Construction of border fencing along the Naga homelands must stopped. If at all, the Indo-Myanmar Border is to be fenced for the reason best known to the Government of India, proper demarcation of actual border line based on historical and traditional boundary should precede to any physical construction work to avoid an irreparable ramification and unprecedented uprising of the people.
Sources informed that the representatives from the Government of India had conveyed that it had not scrapped the FMR totally but had reduced the cross border movement from 16 kilometres to 10 kilometres. On the border fencing, the representatives from the Government of India reasoned that the border fencing was necessary for security reasons.
On the other hand, the Naga Delegation had conveyed that it would be more practical and beneficial for India to let the Nagas take care of the security in their own land and not by erecting fencing in the Naga homeland.
The meeting concluded without any resolution. The meeting lasted for 2 hours. The future course of action will be decided only after the delegation return home.
