New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) India is ready to hold peace talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) but has ruled out any dialogue on sovereignty as demanded by the outfit’s commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, a top official said Sunday.
“We’re ready to hold talks with ULFA but India has already ruled out any talks on sovereignty,” the official said.

The group’s arrested chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, and some other ULFA leaders were brought before a Guwahati court Saturday in handcuffs.

Rajkhowa told reporters that there “cannot be any peace talks with the government under handcuffs as prisoners cannot negotiate”.

“I have not surrendered and would never surrender before the government and sovereignty cannot be compromised,” he said.

Paresh Baruah, in an emailed statement to local dailies in Guwahati, hailed Rajkhowa’s statement as a “moral victory” for the outfit.

Baruah also said, “ULFA is very much alive, our struggle will never end and the people of Assam are with us”.