India's 'cockroach' protesters and government to hold talks as stalemate continues

Thousands of protesters are demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation

Representatives of India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) will hold talks with the government on Friday as thousands of people continue to protest day and night demanding the education minister's resignation.

The meeting follows an eventful night where activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his hunger strike after 26 days of fasting in solidarity with the protests.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also posted a video promising a tough new law on examination paper leaks, the issue at the core of the protests.

However, CJP spokespersons have said they will continue protesting until minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.

The protests - which have seen tens of thousands of young people participate across the country - have become a major headache for Modi's government, which had tried to ignore them in the first few weeks.

That changed last Saturday, when authorities forcibly removed Wangchuk from the protest site and admitted him to hospital, citing health concerns.

Two days later, police in Delhi cracked down on protesters attempting to march to parliament, leaving scores injured and sparking massive public anger.

Last night, Modi posted a video message - shot vertically, seen as an attempt to reach the young protesters who are active on Instagram - saying that a tough new law on examination paper leaks was being prepared.

He said he had received a draft of the law, which would be discussed by the cabinet on Friday before being finalised and introduced in parliament.

Exam paper leaks are at the centre of the controversy - India has witnessed dozens of them over the past couple of decades. The latest trigger was the leak of the question paper for the medical entrance exam, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Nearly 2.28 million candidates sat the exam on 3 May. It was cancelled days later, and a re-test was held. More than 20 students have reportedly died by suicide since the cancellation, with some of their family members also joining the protest.

Wangchuk (centre) ended his fast last night in the presence of federal ministers

The hunger-striking engineer demanding education reforms in India

CJP protest: The youth movement India's Modi didn't see coming

While Modi did not address the protests directly, he said he was "well aware that the issue of paper leaks is not a small matter".

"It causes immense distress to [hundreds of thousands] of students and their parents," he said, reiterating his earlier promise to strengthen the legal framework to punish culprits