Former petroleum secretary R S Pandey has been appointed as the new interlocutor for Naga talks and carry forward the peace process with insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah).
'I am happy to announce the appointment of R S Pandey as the interlocutor and the representative of the government of India to hold talks with NSCN-IM,' Home Minister P Chidambaram said in a statement.
Pandey has been appointed in place of former home secretary K Padmanabhaiah, who as an interlocutor handled for almost a decade the dialogue process with NSCN-IM.
Last September, the government relieved Padmanabhaiah from the responsibility.
Chidambaram also welcomed the decision of the NSCN-IM leadership to visit India and hold talks with the government.
On Tuesday, the Centre announced that it would hold dialogue with NSCN-IM's top leadership in the first week of April, giving a fresh impetus to the Naga peace process.
