New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he is willing to talk to any "disaffected" group in the country, provided it abjured the path of violence.

This has been conveyed on behalf of the Prime Minister by his Special Advisor M K Narayanan in a letter to Assamese litterateur Indira Goswami who had met Singh last month with regard to talks with North-Eastern insurgent outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

PMO sources said today (Dec 7, 2004) that the Prime Minister had made the Government stand with regard to talks with insurgent outfits clear during his visit to the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir last month.

Narayanan has written to Goswami, a Jnanpith awardee, in response to a letter she had addressed to Singh earlier.

The sources said Singh "is willing to talk to any disaffected group provided it abjures the path of violence." Goswami had said after her meeting with the Prime Minister on November 16 that without "sovereignty" issue on the table, the ULFA would not participate in negotiations.