New Delhi:
Home Minister P Chidambaram has reiterated that the Centre will not enter into a dialogue with the Naxals until they give up violence.
He said his letter to the Naxals is clear, that they must lay down arms for talks.
The minister was speaking at a function of the Indo Tibetan Border Police in New Delhi on Friday. His statement comes in the wake of the Naxals' latest declaration that "there is no question of laying down arms".
Just before releasing West Bengal policeman Atindranath Dutta on Thursday, Maoist leader Kishanji rejected the Centre's conditions for talks, saying surrendering arms cannot be a precondition for talks. And that the government must first pull out its forces from all Naxal states.
At the function, Chidambaram did acknowledge the serious threat the country faced from Left-wing extremism, but he asserted that however difficult it might be, India had the capabilities to tackle all kinds of situations.
"India is going through a difficult phase of internal security, but we will overcome the challenges," he said.