The NSCN (IM) on Friday, issued a statement explaining the “letter and spirit” of the Framework Agreement.

The statement asserted that as per the Framework Agreement, “The government of India recognizes the unique history and position of the Nagas.”

It stated that by “unique history” it means that the Nagas have not been a part of the Union of India, Burma (Myanmar) or any other powers “by consent or conquest”.

By unique position, the NSCN (IM) highlighted that it means the “position and situation of Nagalim is political” and that it is a case of invasion and not a law-and-order problem of India.

The group stated that according to the Framework Agreement: “Both sides have understood each other’s respective positions and are cognizant of the universal principle that in a democracy sovereignty lies with the people.”

It further said “it is an acknowledged fact that the sovereignty of Nagalim lies with the Naga people.”

The statement said the Government of India “admits the historical fact that the sovereign Naga people had not accepted the Indian Constitution”. It also drew attention to the principle of “shared-sovereignty” proposed during the tenure of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to solve the problem and subsequently signed under the leadership of the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3 August 2015.

“By shared-sovereignty, it means – the sovereign Indian people and the sovereign Naga people will share sovereign power in some areas as defined in the competencies,” the NSCN (IM) explained.

The statement also said the Government of India recognised the national identity of the Nagas and admitted that the Naga people had rejected the Union of India offered to them by the Constituent Assembly of India and the GoI proposed for “an enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities.”

Further explaining other terms, the NSCN (IM) said “inclusive” means embracing “all Nagas wherever they are including all political groups”; “new relationship” means

a new relationship based on the Framework Agreement”; “co-existence of the two entities” means “coexistence of two peoples – Indian people and Naga people”.

The statement signed by NSCN (IM) Chairman, Q Tuccu; Vice Chairman, Tongmeth Wangnao; and General Secretary, Th Muivah, lastly said the Naga National Flag and Constitution are “constituent parts of sovereignty” and this is common knowledge known to the Indian leaders too for which “there should be no ambiguity about it”.

The statement ended by stating that competencies were being worked out on the principle of the Framework Agreement.