The government is ready to hold talks with the ULFA sans the sovereignty issue but there will be no immediate suspension of operations against the banned group, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
Talking to reporters after a meeting with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram here, Gogoi told reporters “The government is ready for talks with the ULFA but there will be no discussion on the sovereignty issue. Also there is no plan to suspend operations against the group now.”
On participation of ULFA leaders in the talks, he said the government will try to bring everyone to the negotiating table.
“We will even try to bring (military chief) Paresh Barua. But if he does not come, we will go ahead,” he said.
According to him, the indication from the ULFA is positive and the government is hopeful of initiating the dialogue process soon. But he did not specify any timeframe for the talks.
During the meeting with Chidambaram, Gogoi discussed modalities of the talks and also briefed the home minister about the state’s preparedness for the discussions.
Asked whether he had requested for an interlocutor specifically for the ULFA issue, Gogoi said P C Haldar has been named to deal with all insurgent groups in Assam.
