Nagaland Chief Minister Neipheu Rio said that the Union Home Ministry and the Manipur Government should settle the ongoing agitation in Manipur for the betterment of all.

Mr Rio revealed that he had spolen to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh over telephone and requested them to take steps to resolve it at the earliest.''

He said the state government was duty bound to give protection to the vehicles passing through the state and asked the Manipur government to give protection to the vehicles carrying essential commodities to that state. '' Protection should be provided to only those plying through the area under the juridiction of the state, ''
he added.''It is not possible to give cent per cent guarantee to any vehicle, as the state has a limited number of security persons out of which one battalion has been sent to Chhattishgarh and another to Tobu area in Mon district, where tension ran high after two communities clashed and in Noklak area of Tuensang district, where
inter-factional fighting continued.

About the allegation that the Nagaland government had been instigating the Naga agitators in Manipur, Mr Rio said Manipur should not blame Nagaland for their own failure. He said the Manipur government has failed to tackle the situation arising out of the agitation by the Naga organisations.

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