NSCN-IM today hoped that a solution to the decades-old Naga insurgency problem will be found soon, as the outfit paid tribute to its chairman Isak Chishi Swu, who passed away here.
"Government of India is serious and we are also serious. Our commitment is there. We are hopeful for a solution soon," NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah told reporters after paying glowing tributes to his long-time colleague and the chairman.
Muivah said progress has been made in the ongoing peace dialogue between the NSCN-IM and the government's emissary.
The Naga leader said Swu's demise was a shock but could not be avoided.
"The departure of the chairman is a shock but this is what we can't avoid. We wanted him to be with us till the end of the solution. My tribute," he told reporters here.
The 87-year-old chairman of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) was undergoing treatment for almost a year at a private hospital in South Delhi where he breathed his last today following multi organ failure.
Asked about Swu's funeral, Muivah said people of Nagaland were waiting for him and the group will have to respect their wish.
In 1997, NSCN-IM entered into a truce with the Central government for peace and since then has been continuing dialogue with Centre's emissaries.
In August last year, the NSCN-IM signed a framework agreement with the government which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "historic" step to usher in peace in the state.
The pact was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval by Muivah and government's interlocutor R N Ravi at the PM's residence here.
The signing of the pact came after over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 16 years with first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.
