Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) special director Akshaya Kumar Mishra has been appointed as the interlocutor for Naga peace talks.
Earlier, the Central government had removed RN Ravi as the Nagaland Governor following his differences with Naga insurgent groups including NSCN-IM.
Mishra, a 1987 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Rajasthan cadre, retired in June this year and is posted as an advisor in the MHA.
The huge trust deficit between RN Ravi and the Naga insurgent groups reportedly led to his exit from the northeastern state.
Ravi was crossing swords with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) for the last two years.
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The Centre appointed Ravi, a 1976 batch IPS officer from the Kerala cadre, as Naga peace talk interlocutor in 2015.
Despite a Framework Agreement for Naga Peace Accord having been signed in 2015, the government has not been able to finalise the Accord.
The NSCN-IM had been holding RN Ravi, who has refused to budge from his standpoint of not allowing a separate flag and constitution for the state, culpable for the delay in hammering out the final solution.