Chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya on Thursday met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi and apprised him of the ‘give-and-take’ formula arrived at by both northeastern states to address the decades-old border dispute.
After the meeting, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma took to social media to share updates of the meeting.
“I along with Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma met with home minister Amit Shahji in New Delhi. We apprised the home minister on the outcomes of discussions held between Assam and Meghalaya governments to resolve the border disputes amicably. We are grateful for his guidance,” Sarma said in a Twitter post.
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“Called on home minister Amit Shahji with chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma and apprised him on the reports of the regional committees. He expressed happiness on the initiative taken by both the states in the matter,” Sangma tweeted.
“Ministry of home affairs will examine the reports and we will meet the home minister again after January 26,” Sangma added.
{{/usCountry}}“Ministry of home affairs will examine the reports and we will meet the home minister again after January 26,” Sangma added.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, the cabinets of both states approved the ‘give-and-take’ formula to sort out the five-decades-old border dispute in a phased manner. As per the formula, in the first phase, six of the 12 disputed areas will be resolved.
Deliberations between both states, including at the chief ministerial-level, have been going on since last year. Recently, regional committees of both states submitted reports on the six areas decided to be resolved in the first phase.
The six areas that will be taken up for final settlement are Hahim, Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata and Ratacherra. The other six areas, where the disputes are more complicated, will be taken up later.
On Tuesday, during an interaction with political parties in Assam, Sarma informed that as per the recommendations of the regional committees, Assam will get 18.51 sq km of the total 36.8 sq km disputed area while the remaining 18.29 sq km will go to Meghalaya.
He also said that as per agreements between both states, once the border disputes in all the 12 areas are resolved, Meghalaya will not be able to make any further claims on Assam territory.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972 and both states share a 733-km boundary. Over the years, there have been several skirmishes between various communities inhabiting the border areas.