Mail News Service
New Delhi, Apr 9: A tripartite meeting involving the representatives of Government of Assam, and ULFA was held under the Chairmanship of Union Home Secretary, Sh. R.K.Singh in New Delhi today to discuss demands submitted by ULFA.
The delegation was led by Shri Arabinda Rajkhowa, Chairman, ULFA. Chief Secretary, Sh. N.K.Das, Government of Assam, Sh. P.C. Haldar, Government of India Representative for Peace Talks, Special Secretary, IS, Sh. Ajay Chadha, Joint Secretary, (North East) Sh. Shambhu Singh, MHA, Additional DGP, Sh. K. Sharma, and Home Commissioner, Sh. Jishnu Barua and Shri G.D.Triphati, Secretary(Home) West Bengal Government were also present.
There was tangible progress in the talks. Both sides were satisfied with the progress made. Government of India’s Representative Shri P.C.Haldar has been requested to hold further meetings to discuss some aspects in detail. Noting the tangible progress in talks with ULFA, Union Home Secretary stated that he would review the progress of talks with ULFA periodically.
ANI adds United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who met Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh here on Monday in an endeavor to find a lasting solution to the three-decade-old insurgency problem in Assam , expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the talks.
“The talks, which we had today have been very satisfactory. This discussion has taken place in view of the earlier agenda, which we had discussed with them. Considerable progress has been made after the first round of talks,” he said.
Besides Rajkhowa, ULFA Foreign Secretary Shashadhar Chowdhary, Cultural Secretary Pranati Deka, Finance Secretary Chitrabon Hazarika were among those present in the 90-minute meeting.
Meanwhile, ULFA Foreign Secretary Shashadhar Chowdhary said that they discussed all the contentious issues.
“We have discussed all contentious issues, but are yet to take a decision on any of them. We have discussed many things. It was a cordial and nice discussion. What we can say is that the government of India has satisfied us,” said Chowdhary.”But in this one week, we cannot divulge all these things because matters are very sensitive and we are also a very sensitive people,” he added.
The ULFA delegation met the Union Home Secretary for the second time with an aim to see if any progress was made after the conclusion of the first round of talks.
The pro-talk faction had submitted its charter of demands to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in August last year, which was followed by the first round of talks with the Union Home Ministry in October.
The 12-point charter of demands, include constitutional amendments to give Assam greater control over its natural resources, revenue generation, participation in the planning process, ensuring a secure demographic situation, besides accelerated and balanced development.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/tangible-progress-in-talks-with-ulfa/
