Without reaching an agreement that covers the ethnic Naga people in both Myanmar and India, the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) will not sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), according to peace negotiator U Kyaw Wan Sein of the NSCN (K), reports The Irrawaddy.
“We are not yet ready to sign the NCA, and are still discussing it. Naga people live both in Myanmar and India. And we can’t sign the NCA for only Naga people in Myanmar. It should cover Naga people in both countries, otherwise there is no way we can sign it,” U Kyaw Wan Sein told The Irrawaddy.
Little is currently known about the movement of the NSCN (K) in the northwest of Myanmar, except that the NSCN (K) signed a ceasefire agreement with U Thein Sein’s government on April 9, 2012, but has rarely been seen in ongoing peace talks, only taking part as observers.
The NSCN (K) participated as an observer to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement -drafting process, but stated it was not interested in signing it.
It has instead proposed that a “tripartite dialogue” involving Myanmar, India and the Naga be used to reach a solution. The current National League for Democracy government’s peace negotiators, led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, invited the NSCN (K) to attend the latest 21st Century Panglong peace conferences in August 2016 and May 2017, but it did not attend.
U Hla Maung Shwe of the government peace commission told The Irrawaddy: “There was no fighting with the [NSCN (K)] and the Tatmadaw [Myanmar Army] after 2000. We have smooth relations with them. But, it will take time to talk them into signing NCA.”
The NSCN (K) reportedly operates in the areas of Lahe, Leshi, Hkamti and Namyun townships in Sagaing Region. The ethnic Naga in Burma were given a self-administrative zone in Leshi, Lahe and Namyun townships under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution.
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