Guwahati, Nov 21: General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita, on Sunday (Nov 20) urged ULFA-I's elusive commander Paresh Baruah to come to the table for talks.
"The Assam Chief Minister has repeatedly appealed to him to come into the mainstream and to give different opportunities to our new generation. I urge him to come out for talks," Lt General Kalita as per the reports of ANI. He further said that ULFA-I's influence at the ground level in the state has drastically decreased. "ULFA no longer has influence at ground level in the state. It has some influence in only four districts of Assam," Lt. General Kalita said.
Lt General Kalita also said that the Indian Army is completely prepared to meet any emergency situation and any sort of challenges. While replying to a question on the Chinese army's warlike preparedness along the border areas, Lt General Kalita said, "It's not 1962 anymore, it's now 2022 - 60 years have already passed." He said the Indian Army would ensure the country's territorial integrity at all costs.
"The nation has done such great progress, not only in infrastructure development, but also in capability development in all domains including military capability, economics, and foreign affairs. We assure everyone that the Indian army is completely prepared whether in eastern borders or in northern borders or in western borders to meet any emergency situation and any sort of challenge. We assure the nation that, we will ensure the territorial integrity of the country at all costs," he said.
Lt Gen Kalita said, "I am very positive. I look at it from a very positive perspective, because lots of efforts are being done by the security agencies, all the stakeholders together and in this effort to achieve normalcy together. So, all of us have been able to control the security situation and have been able to bring down the violence which has given an opportunity to the people to aspire for peace and development. I am quite positive."