Maintained communication with ULFA chief Paresh Baruah, says Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said his government has maintained some communication with the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Briefing mediapersons, the chief minister said, "Assam government has maintained some communication with ULFA chief Paresh Baruah after the formation of the government. I asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah whether I can directly talk to Baruah if such a situation arises. He gave permission and said it has to be a structured dialogue."

"So, as of now I only took permission to speak to him (Baruah) over the phone or through other media so that we can give a push to the peace process. But those are very preliminary things, no conclusion should be drawn and it will be a long affair," Sarma added.

Sarma is the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the Northeast chapter of the BJP-led state. Some of the major parties of the region are constituents of NEDA.

On Monday, Assam Chief Minister held a meeting with Shah in New Delhi.

After his meeting, he toldthat discussions were held over the ongoing peace efforts within northeastern states and some other issues of Assam.

"We held discussions on pending issues of Assam. There are a lot of peace initiatives going on in the northeast, we discussed that also. In totality, some issues of Assam and efforts of maintaining peace within northeastern states were held," he said.

Sarma further stated that he was partly involved in the ongoing peace process with the NSCN-IM, but never held any official negotiation with the Naga rebel group.

( With inputs from ANI )