The Centre on Tuesday expressed the hope that agreements will be reached with many of the insurgent groups in the North-East this year to bring them into the mainstream of politics.

In his first press conference in the New Year, the Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that most insurgent groups are in talks with the government or poised to start the talks. He said that the North East saw the lowest level of violence last year in many years and there has been a dramatic change in the situation.

The Home Minister said that there has also been significant improvement in the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the visit of all-party Parliamentary delegation and appointment of interlocutors. He said that the interlocutors have been able to change the discourse and persuade a number of stake holders to offer suggestions for a political solution.

The interlocutors had visited the state for a week from 17th of last month during which they met a number of leaders of mainstream political parties as well as 130 delegations in the state.

Mr. Chidambaram however, said that the situation in the Left Wing-extremism affected states continues to be a matter of grave concern. He said that more than 700 civilians were killed by the naxalites last year as compared to over 590 in 2009. He regretted that the naxalites not only rejected the offer of talks but also escalated the conflict. Mr. Chidambaram said that the crime situation has dramatically improved in Delhi and policing has improved significantly. Quoting from figures, Mr. Chidambaram said that the incidents of crime have come down.