There will be no discussion on the sovereignty issue during peace talks with insurgent group ULFA, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said on Monday.
"There will be no discussion on the sovereignty issue when the peace talks are held with the ULFA. One thing is clear: there will be no compromise on sovereignty", Gogoi talking to reporters here.
He said "the process for (initiating) the talks has almost started but I don't say that much progress has been made or any breakthrough achieved. Attempts are being made...let's hope for the best", he said.
Meanwhile, ULFA's chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa had a night-long meeting with his top colleagues Raju Baruah, ULFA vice-president Pradip Gogoi,`foreign secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury, `finance secretary' Chitrabon Hazarika and publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary in the central jail here, sources said.
Sharing the same cell for the meeting, all the ULFA leaders were at ease and were seen talking animatedly throughout the night well into Sunday morning, the sources said.
According to Bijan Mahajan, defence counsel of all the six ULFA leaders, "the night-long meeting is a welcome sign as far as the talks are concerned. It is a positive move on the part of the government to have allowed Rajkhowa and Baruah to be sent to jail".