Swu is expected to reach Nagaland soon to meet leaders of other groups and push forward the ongoing reconciliation process, spearheaded by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) and supported by several organisations and churches.
Swu, who was scheduled to reach New Delhi earlier, was delayed because of a technical problem with his travel documents.
The NSCN chief has now been issued an Indian passport.
According to a source, he had been travelling the world with a Bangladeshi passport.
The Centre wanted him to surrender the passport to the Bangladesh authorities.
Sources said the Centre had inked certain restrictions in Swu’s Indian passport, to which the outfit was objecting.
The sources said six of their senior kilonsers (ministers) are currently camping in Delhi to receive their chairman.
The Naga community in New Delhi will organise a civic reception for Swu on January 23 at 5.30pm at 61, Lodhi Estate.
Before leaving for Nagaland, Swu will meet Thuingaleng Muivah, the outfit’s general secretary, who is in the national capital.
Swu and Muivah will live in New Delhi for nearly a month before a trip to Nagaland, sources said, unless there are “more important” meetings.
Interlocutor for the Naga talks, R.S. Pandey, will hold parleys with the militant leaders.
Hours before Swu’s arrival, top government officials said the Naga political problem was nearing its conclusion.
“The parties may arrive at a broad agreement by the end of the year,” a senior home ministry official said.
S.S. Khaplang, the chairman of the NSCN (Khaplang), is also expected to reach Nagaland soon, according to sources.
The NSCN, which was formed on January 30, 1980, split in 1988 after a bloody clash between the supporters of Swu, Muivah and Khaplang in the jungles of Burma.
Over 200 supporters of Swu and Muivah have been killed in fratricidal clashes. Since then, fratricidal killings have claimed hundreds of lives.
According to the mandate of the Naga people and also the resolutions of the Joint Working Group of Naga groups, a meeting of the highest level is imminent.
The FNR and the Joint Working Group have requested the Naga people to pray for the reconciliation process.
They have also asked the churches and prayer centres to arrange special programmes, the convenor of the forum, Rev. Wati Aier, said.