GUWAHATI:
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on March 29, expressed hope that the agreement reached with Meghalaya will pave the way to solve boundary issues with other Northeastern states.
“We have started discussion with Arunachal Pradesh government on the issue. Likewise initial correspondence with Nagaland and Mizoram too have begun. There will be no conflicts within the Northeastern states if boundary disputes are solved mutually,” Sarma said, after formalising the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the 50-year-old vexed border row with Meghalaya in the presence of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He also expressed gratitude towards the Centre for aiding the process and said that it’s been done with in proper consultation with the people living in the border areas and without any violence.
“We resolved disputes in six areas out of 12 areas keeping in mind the desire of the people living in border areas. We were able to resolve the issue without any harm to each other. We are also discussing the solution to the dispute with other states,” Sarma said, adding that the seven sister states must work together to resolve internal conflicts, which will in turn will lead to heritage, cultural and socio-economic development.
Highlighting the flaws of the government in demarcating the boundary of the states when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, he said, “There was no clear-cut demarcation of the boundary between the two states in the North East Reorganisation Act of 1972. This caused border disputes between the two states which continued for the next 50 years. The number of areas of the dispute too has gone up. There were two areas of dispute in 1972, but rose to 4 in 1976 and so on.”
Stating that both the states took some conrete steps towards finding a permanent solution to the issue, the chief minister said that both governments will continue to work towards a mutual solution to resolve the next six areas of dispute.
Meanwhile, hailing the Centre and both the state governments, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal took to a popular micro-blogging website and wrote, “Led by the vision of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji and the guidance of Shri @Amitshah ji, Northeast has transformed into a region of peace and progress. My congratulations to both CM Shri @himantabiswa & Shri @SangmaConrad for signing this historical agreement (sic).”