Assam CM hopeful for peace agreement with ULFA's pro-talks faction by end of May
Sarma said that talks were underway with the pro-talks faction of ULFA and that the government had already provided a draft to them.
- Apr 27, 2023,
- Updated Apr 27, 2023, 2:51 PM IST
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has expressed hope that the ongoing discussions with the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) will lead to a peace agreement by the end of May.
Speaking on April 27, Sarma said that talks were underway with the pro-talks faction of ULFA and that the government had already provided a draft to them. However, if they don't accept the draft, the matter will have to be postponed.
"We are hopeful that by the end of May, peace agreement will be signed with pro-talks faction of ULFA," he added.
The Indian government and the Assam government have already given the draft to the pro-talks team of the ULFA.
But discussions with the ULFA(I) faction are not going on in the right track to facilitate peace talks, Sarma said.
The pro-talks faction of ULFA had earlier expressed doubts over the Centre’s “sincerity” in taking forward the peace parleys, claiming that no dialogue had been held in the last two years, and there was no government interlocutor at present to take the process forward.
The faction alleged that there had been "not much progress" in the peace talks with it since the Narendra Modi government came to power, though the negotiations had reached the final stages during former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure.
It also maintained that the hardliner ULFA(I) chief Paresh Barua was unlikely to come forward for negotiations until the parleys with the pro-talks faction were completed.