GUWAHATI: Ulfa (I) chief Paresh Baruah said that he was ready to start dialogue with government provided Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows his determination to end the decades-old problem by willing to discuss ‘sovereignty.’The state government, as earlier announced by cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma , is expected to raise the Ulfa (I) issue with Modi at Kokrajhar on Friday where he will be attending a thanks giving rally organized by Bodo people for signing of the Bodo accord last month.The militant leader called up TOI from an undisclosed location and said, “Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has recently said in media that the government of India will examine a democratically elected government can sit for discussion on the issue of sovereignty and he has been courteous enough. But, he had also said that Government of India had in the past (in 2005 during for former PM Manmohan Singh ’s tenure) expressed its willingness to discuss all issues raised by the outfit, which has created doubts in our mind. We do not want any other issues except sovereignty on the discussion table.”“If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined, all we need from him is a single-line written assurance that only sovereignty will be discussed and we will come. We will hold the discussions on Assam’s soil, not on any foreign soil. The PM should think for India’s and Assam’s good,” Baruah, who is believed to be holed up in China said.“I am not very hopeful but if India believes that it is practicing true democracy there should not be any difficulty in discussing sovereignty. Absolute peace is not possible anywhere in the world but discussions is a path to find the solution,” Baruah said.“Only if there is a discussion, we can tell why we are asking for sovereignty and what is the basis of our demand. The conflict has been on too long. Indian government has to take the first step forward to end this conflict or else, it will continue,” he said.Sarma on January 29 on behalf of the Centre invited Baruah to join the peace process and had said that there was “positivity” in Baruah’s response that talks would have to only on sovereignty. Saying that “More than the word (sovereignty), I think the importance lies in the subject and the hopes and aspirations of the people of Assam, Sarma said on that day when the PM visits Kokrajhar on February 7 he along with Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal would take up the issue with them.The 63-year-old militant leader, who has been shifting bases from one country to another—first Bhutan followed by Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, and evading arrest faces death sentence in Bangladesh after he was found guilty in a arms smuggle case by Bangladesh court.He said, “I am talking about discussion for ending the conflict and finding a solution. I am not trying to secure a post-retirement life.”