By Subir Bhaumik BBC correspondent in Calcutta

Separatist leaders of the Naga tribe who have fought India for more than 40 years say they will come to Delhi to pursue their negotiations with Indian officials.

For the last five years, talks between Indian officials and the leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) have been held outside India in countries such as Thailand and the Netherlands.

The NSCN chairman, Issac Chisi Swu, told the BBC that he will come to India to continue talks with Delhi.

The other senior leaders of the NSCN, including its general secretary, Thuingalent Muivah, will also accompany Mr Swu.

The talks between the two sides, he said, will now be held in India, and the senior leaders of the NSCN will probably base themselves in Delhi.

Charges dropped

Mr Swu said the Indian Government had dropped all cases against the NSCN leaders, clearing the way for them to return to India.

The NSCN started negotiating with India in 1997 after four decades of armed conflict.

Progress was, however, slow and often marred by mistrust.

But observers say the decision of the NSCN leaders to come to Delhi for negotiations indicates that they are at ease with the Indian leadership and are more confident than ever before about a breakthrough in the talks.

The two sides have also decided to extend the ceasefire by another year.

The NSCN has been fighting for several decades for a homeland for ethnic Nagas in north-east India in the area that borders Burma.