Indian PM holds peace talks with northeast rebel representatives
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-27 13:51

India's prime minister held talks with representatives of a northeast separatist group with the aim of ending three decades of insurgency that has claimed 15,000 lives, an official said.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the inaugural session of the talks with an 11-member civil society group which the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has chosen to represent them.

Singh released a short statement after the talks concluded but did not specify what was discussed or when future ones would be held.

"I am willing to listen to whatever concerns that you may raise. I am willing to discuss issues bothering the people of Assam," Singh's media advisor Sanjaya Baru quoted him as telling the delegation on Wednesday.

The ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, last month nominated the 11-member People's Consultative Group led by noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami.

"The prime minister is keen to bring peace in the northeast. The PM has requested the People's Consultative Group bring ULFA to the talks table," chief minister Gogoi said after the meeting.

"The prime minister said he is not afraid to discuss any issue but he also said he has to work under the Indian constitution."

The ULFA representatives include journalists, human rights activists, a former football player, an engineer, a lawyer and a doctor.

"The general atmosphere in the talks was congenial, open-ended and it was a heart-to-heart talk," said Arup Borbora, one of the ULFA representatives.

"There was an agreement that through political talks the problem should be resolved and there will be a similar round of talks in the near future."

New Delhi last week formally invited the group for talks following a letter from the ULFA offering to begin a formal dialogue.

"I look forward to a fruitful and positive discussion with the group in a constructive spirit," M.K. Narayanan, India's national security adviser, said in the letter inviting the ULFA representatives for talks in New Delhi.

The last round of direct talks between ULFA rebels and the Indian government was held in New Delhi in 1992.

They ended abruptly after the five ULFA rebels -- who were released from prison for the dialogue with then prime minister Narasimha Rao -- went underground.

"The situation then was quite different from now with the people of Assam clamouring for peace, and our leadership too is equally keen to resolve the conflict through negotiations," jailed ULFA leader Pranati Hazarika told AFP in a local court in Assam.

The ULFA is one of the most organized militant groups in India's northeast, where more than 30 rebel groups operate with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.

At least 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam since 1979 when the ULFA, the state's first rebel group was founded.