Asia-Pacific

India starts talks on creating new Telangana state

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-05 17:21

NEW DELHI: India Tuesday began talks on creating the state of Telangana, a month after it announced curving out the new state out of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram hosted a meeting of eight political parties in the national capital to prepare a "roadmap" for the proposed new state of Telangana.

Asking the political parties to help the central government find a solution to the Telangana issue, the minister said, "I urge each of the political parties represented here to show accommodation and goodwill. Ultimately you must find the answers and you must help the central government find a solution. If we take one step at a time we will, eventually, find a solution."

"I wish to caution all political parties that there are forces waiting on the wings who ridicule parliamentary form of democracy, and who would be happy if we collectively fail to find answers to the issues that concern us. We should not give any room for these forces to gain strength or credence," he added.

The Indian government had earlier announced of creating Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, following days of violent protests and hunger strike by the K. Chandrasekara Rao, the chief of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti which is spearheading the protest for the new state.

But, later it said the final decision on the proposed state would be considered after an all-party meet.