‘Peace parleys with HNLC in final stage’

SHILLONG, March 17: The peace talks with rebel group Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) have reached the final stage, Tourism Minister and government spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh said on Friday.
“We made a reference to talks that are ongoing with the HNLC and which are going to a point of closure very soon,” Lyngdoh told journalists soon after a meeting of the cabinet. “The talks have reached the final stage but if I were to share everything, the Governor (Phagu Chauhan) would have nothing to say on Monday,” the minister said.
The Governor will deliver his address on the opening day of the budget session of the Assembly on Monday.
The state government had appointed retired IAS officer Peter S Dkhar as the interlocutor in the peace talks with the HNLC. He is being assisted by Ministry of Home Affairs Adviser, North East and retired IPS officer AK Mishra.
Similarly, the HNLC had appointed Hynniewtrep National Youth Front president Sadon K Blah as its representative in the peace parleys.
On February 10 last year, the HNLC had sent the official communication expressing its readiness for unconditional peace talks after Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had made an appeal for the same responding to the outfit’s peace overtures.