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The Centre today termed the ongoing peace talks with the banned ULFA as "very constructive" and gave hints that it would not press for surrender of arms by the groups. The Centre
today termed the ongoing peace talks with the banned ULFA as "very constructive" and gave hints that it would not press for surrender of arms by the groups. Making it clear that
the venue of the dialogue would continue to be New Delhi, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said they had a "very constructive" discussion with the ULFA leadership on their demands on
October 25 here. "We went over various demands which they have put forward. There are certain demands which need their clarifications. We have requested our interlocutors, the Assam
government and the ULFA to sit down again and sort out the issues. But the talks are going well, they are very constructive," he told reporters here. At the same press conference, Home
Minister P Chidambaram said it was too early to say where the dialogue process would go and where it would lead to. Asked whether ULFA has been asked to deposit their arms and ammunition,
Chidambaram said "the general practice has been for any talks, it has to lead to a political settlement, there has to be a Suspension of Operations, they (the militants) have to deposit
their weapons under certain conditions which differ from groups to groups". "So, these are the general principles that we follow. As you heard the Home Secretary said, the first
round has been constructive. So, I think we should allow the talks to progress. We should not begin to analyse the talks outside the rooms where the talks take place. We can't have a
parallel analysis going on even when the talks are taking place," he said. Asked whether the Myanmar government has agreed to launch operations against the northeast militant groups
based in that country, Chidambaram said discussions with the Government of Myanmar were confidential and cannot be disclosed. "Whatever needs to be said, will be said at appropriate
time. We can't discuss negotiations and talks between two countries in a media briefing," he said. Questioned about the ongoing talks with another militant group of Assam UPDS, the
Home Minister said the negotiators had reached the text of the proposed agreement but the Assam government has suggested that one or two clauses could be reworded and that was now underway.
"I will meet the Chief Minister of Assam on November 3 and in fact the agreement with UPDS is on top of my list. So, if an agreement is signed, the first will be with UPDS," he
said.