The Indian government says it will deploy an additional seventeen thousand paramilitary troops in the troubled north-eastern states to reinforce security during forthcoming elections.

The federal Home Secretary, B.P.Singh, after reviewing security arrangements in the region, said the new force would relieve the army from internal security duties.

He said he had advised the states to use the troops for offensive operations against rebel bases.

A BBC correspondent in Calcutta says efforts to bring separatist groups in the region to the negotiating table had little success.