NEW DELHI: Responding to Ulfa (I) hardliner Paresh Baruah ’s insistence on making “sovereignty” the starting point of any peace dialogue, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the Centre would “certainly examine if a democratically elected government can discuss the topic”.“There was positivity in Baruah’s statement. We have taken cognisance of it... More than the word ‘ sovereignty ’, the hopes and aspirations of the people of Assam will drive the peace process,” said Sarma. He pointed out that in 2005, the erstwhile UPA government had expressed its willingness to discuss all issues raised by Ulfa. While that didn’t translate into peace talks, the NDA government is committed to making a dialogue happen, Sarma said.