For the new negotiator, the Nagas are old friends

Raghav Sharan Pandey, the government's new interlocutor for holding talks with the Issac Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM, is gearing up to hold negotiations in a "transparent, realistic and sustained" manner.

Although the dates for the talks are yet to be finalised, media reports suggest the talks are likely to restart between April 1 and April 10.

Sources, however, say that if Swu and Muivah – who are currently abroad -- decide to come to India in March they will not be restricted.

When contacted by rediff.com, Pandey was initially reluctant to speak about the talks saying he was yet to update himself on the present position.

Having spent half his service period in Nagaland, Pandey knows the Nagas well – he believes it is better to be straightforward with the Nagas.

"The Nagas are a very democratic people and understanding in nature; they respect truthfulness and transparency," said Pandey who will be operating from Vigyan Bhavan annexe in New Delhi.

The recently retired 1972-batch Nagaland cadre IAS officer, who went on to become the chief secretary of the state, firmly believes that dialogue is the only solution to resolve long-drawn issues like the Naga problem.

"It is necessary to keep them (insurgent groups) engaged in sustained talks, both formal as well as informal, to maintain continuity."

However, Pandey is determined that the talks are not dragged on for another decade. Driven by the challenge given to him, Pandey is focussed on a result-oriented outcome by bringing the two sides together.

The ceasefire agreement with the NSCN-IM was signed in August 1997 and the Centre appointed K Padmanabhaiah as the negotiator in July 1999, initially for a year.

Later, his term was extended every year till September 2009, when he retired.

According to sources, the last meeting between the two sides was held in March last year in Zurich. However, even after a decade of talks, the two sides could not clinch a deal.

Pandey, who hails from Champaran in Bihar, retired as a secretary to the petroleum and natural gas ministry in January. He had earlier been the secretary for steel and secretary of parliamentary affairs.

Pandey's long association with the Nagas may be to his advantage. Though Pandey had been posted away from Nagaland for the last few years, his emotional bonding with the state is evident in the huge framed Naga shawls and the appreciations received from different tribes on the walls of his house.

A whole shelf is dedicated to books on the northeast, especially Nagaland.

His reputation as being a troubleshooter in the petroleum ministry may have got Pandey the negotiator's job.

Ministry staffers recall him as a person who would deftly handle many crises in the petroleum sector and come up with quick solutions.

However, the present assignment may be different for Pandey -- a challenge to resolve an issue that has not been resolved for 60 years.

Since Pandey is fluent in the local Naga dialect, observers feel this might make his task easier.

However, Pandey is clear that when he picks up the thread left by his predecessor, he would thrash out the issue with "complete understanding and willingness of all parties concerned".

A recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2007 and a UN Public Service award in 2008, Pandey has penned a book Communitisation: Third Way of Governance, which is based on his experience with communitisation programmes in elementary education, primary healthcare and power management in Nagaland.

Image: R S Pandey