India has signed a pact with an outlawed separatist group to end violence in the northeastern state of Assam and pave the way for peace talks.

National and Assam government representatives signed the agreement with the United Liberation Front of Asom, also known as ULFA.

Under the agreement, ULFA vowed not to stage attacks while efforts to end its dispute with the government are underway. The government promised not to take action against members of the rebel group.

The agreement was reached after ULFA laid out its demands last month for formal peace talks with India's government. In July, the group announced a unilateral cease-fire in northeast India in hopes of making progress on a peace deal.

ULFA has been fighting for more than three decades in pursuit of an independent homeland for the ethnic Assamese in India's northeast.

The fighting has killed at least 10,000 people, mostly civilians.