New Delhi, Oct 27: Giving a push for a political solution to the long-pending Naga issue, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will visit Nagaland for a three-day tour from today and is expected to announce a special economic package for the insurgency-ridden state. Vajpayee's visit to the state is being considered as significant coming in the backdrop of four rounds of peace talks this year, including the first one on Indian soil (Delhi) in January, with the major militant outfit NSCN(I-M).

Security forces and NSCN(I-M) leaders have stuck to their ceasefire agreement since August 1997, and agreed to extend it for another year beyond July 2003.

Besides holding talks with the Governor and the state political leadership including Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the Prime Minister is also expected to meet leaders of political parties.
Rio has been recently made the convenor of the North Eastern Forum, a front of regional political parties essentially opposed to the Congress.

NSCN(I-M), led by its chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary T Muivah, have been demanding unification of Naga-dominated areas and the release of 13 top leaders of the outfit by Manipur government which had led to a wave of protests by various bodies in Manipur.

Bureau Report