Vajpayee is learnt to have held discussions with the Naga outfit's president Issak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah in New York, following their insistence on holding talks with the Prime Minister in another country.

The basic intent of the talks, for which the groundwork was done mainly by the Prime Minister's Office, was to ``break the deadlock'' following the NSCN(I-M) stand that they would not talk to former governor Swaraj Kaushal who was named as the principal negotiator for the Naga peace talks, the sources said. The sources further added that the venue and date of meeting were kept a tight secret.

Though the talks have broken the ice between the Centre and the major Naga insurgent outfit, sources expressed hope that the 14-month-old cease-firewould now lead to initiation of political discussions to end the five-decade-old Naga problem.

It is understood that during the meeting the two NSCN(I-M) leaders were told that the government was prepared to hold political discussions within the framework of the Constitution and the question of Nagaland's secession was ``non-negotiable''.

Swu and Muivah apprised the Prime Minister of their perception of the Naga problems and views about other State-relating aspects, the sources said.

The government also asked the two leaders to check NSCN(I-M) cadres from carrying out extortion and collecting arms, they said. They were also asked to attend meetings held by the cease-fire monitoring committee, which, so far, they had been boycotting, the sources said.

The cease-fire came into effect from August 1 last year during the United Front government's rule following the then premier H D Deve Gowda's talks with the NSCN(I-M) in Switzerland. The cease-fire was extended periodically for six months each time, butwas given a year-long extension after the BJP-led government came to power.