Immediate talks with ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah unlikely: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
GUWAHATI: Immediate talks with United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA-I) chief Paresh Baruah is highly 'unlikely'.
This was stated by Assam chief minister Paresh Baruah on Monday (January 01) while speaking to media persons in Guwahati.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that although he is in touch with ULFA-I chief Paresh Barua, negotiations with the outfit is unlikely in the immediate future.
It is not easy for Barua to give up the issue of sovereignty, said Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
"But he must realise that the people of Assam do not want it (sovereignty) anymore," the Assam chief minister said.
"As the political head of Assam, I will continue to reach out to Baruah. But I don't expect him to come for talks immediately," CM Sarma said.
He added: "We have kept open the channels for discussions, but we do not see the talks happening in the near future."
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hoped that the ULFA-I chief "will come for talks some day".
He claimed that Paresh Barua will change his demands, if he comes and stays in Assam for 15 days.
"He is fighting for the people of the state but they want development and not an independent Assam," Sarma said.