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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
During his five-day visit to Japan, one of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's most important engagements will be a meeting in Osaka with top leaders of the secessionist National Socialist Council of Nagalim.
Confirming this, intelligence sources in New Delhi said the meeting is likely to take place today.
This meeting, the sources explained, was earlier scheduled to take place during a stopover in Amsterdam, Holland, in September, but was overtaken by events in the United States, which caused Vajpayee's trip to Washington to be put off.
Taking advantage of the media attention on developments in Afghanistan, former home secretary and the government's negotiator K Padmanabhaiah managed to reschedule the meeting in Osaka.
NSCN general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and chairman Isak Chisi Swu were flown to Japan on Friday to be present in Osaka during the prime minister's visit.
Intelligence Bureau Director K P Singh also flew into Japan on Friday as part of the prime minister's entourage so that he could take part in the crucial meeting.
According to sources, the meeting is of crucial importance in the peace talks that have been going on between the NSCN and the Government of India since 1997.
Incidentally, this will be the second meeting between Vajpayee and Muivah. The first took place in 1998 during Vajpayee's visit to Paris.
The Nagaland Ceasefire: The complete coverage
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