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Assam, Meghalaya CMs sign border agreement
With the signing of the agreement 70% of the dispute will be resolved, Union home minister Amit Shah, who was present during the signing, said. “It is a historic day for the Northeast,” he added.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad Sangma, on Tuesday signed an agreement to resolve a five-decade-old border dispute in six of the 12 contested areas along their 884.9 km-long shared border.
With the signing of the agreement 70% of the dispute will be resolved, Union home minister Amit Shah, who was present during the signing, said. “It is a historic day for the Northeast,” he added.
The two states formed three committees each in August last year to discuss the boundary dispute. The chief ministers of both states submitted a draft resolution to the Union home minister on January 31 for consideration by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) after two rounds of talks between the states.
According to the proposed recommendations for 36.79 square km of land in six locations, Assam will keep 18.51 square km and give the remaining 18.28 square km to Meghalaya. There are 36 villages in the six locations with regard to which the agreement has been reached in the first phase of settlement.
Speaking to reporters after the signing of the agreement, Shah said, “(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has made several efforts for the peace process, development, prosperity and promotion of the cultural heritage of north east, which we all have witnessed, since 2014, when he became the Prime Minister.”
“In a very short span of time, six out of 12 issues have been settled between Assam and Meghalaya and about 70 per cent of the border between the two states has become dispute-free,” Shah said, adding that development of the region is not possible unless disputes between states are resolved.
The origin of the long-standing land dispute dates back to 1972, when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam, over different readings of the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for giving the necessary push to resolve the dispute, Sangma said, “There has been a lot of push from Prime Minister and Home Minister that they would like to see that these differences (Assam-Meghalaya border issue) are resolved because if India and Bangladesh can resolve the border issues then why can’t the states. This is the stand they took.”
“Everybody has done their part, contributed in their own way. The push was given in last few years by the Centre and both state governments,” he said.
“...we’re very thankful to HM Amit Shah and Assam CM Sarma because they went the extra mile. It’s only because of overall teamwork that was there, we were able to resolve or at least come to some kind of a resolution in first six areas of differences out of the 12,” Sangma added.
After the signing of the agreement, Assam CM Sarma said he would work towards making the Northeast a growth engine in the country.
“It is a historic day for all of us. When I first became the chief minister, the home minister said to resolve all the differences with regard to the border and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the northeast should become the growth engine of the country. Home minister advised me that you are the chief minister of Assam and it is your responsibility to find a solution for the issue. As per his advice, we started talking and we succeeded in finding a solution to the issue,” Sarma said.
We aim to resolve the issue of the remaining disputed sites in the next six to seven months, he added.
Sarma also hit out at the Congress, which was in power when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. “In 1970s, Meghalaya was carved out from Assam, but in the State Reorganisation Bill, Congress could have resolved this... Both states kept fighting internally resulting in casualties,” he said.
Sarma added that initial discussions have started with the chief ministers of Mizoram and Nagaland to solve the border disputes with them.
“Union Home Minister also requested we resolve the border disputes between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. I had a meeting with AP CM where we formed a road map to settle 122 disputed points. Initial discussions have started with the CMs of Mizoram and Nagaland.”
The development has come months after five personnel of the Assam police were killed in an exchange of fire with their counterparts from Mizoram over a similar border dispute in 2021.
Highlighting the BJP government’s achievements in the region, Shah said the Centre has signed several agreements to end extremism and bring lasting peace.
“NLFT (SD), National Liberation Front of Tripura , agreement was signed in August 2019 to bring the extremists in the mainstream of society in Tripura which contributed greatly in making Tripura a peaceful state,” he said.
“Then a landmark agreement was signed on January 16, 2020, to solve the 23-year-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis forever. Under this, more than 37,000 tribals, who were leading a difficult life, are now living a life of dignity today.”
The Bodo Accord signed on 27 January, 2020, resolved the 50-year-old Bodo issue while maintaining the original form of Assam, he said.
Similarly, he said, Karbi-Anglong Agreement was signed on September 4, 2021 to resolve the long-standing dispute in the Karbi regions of Assam.
Between 2019 and 2022, Shah said, over 6,900 armed cadres have surrendered in the region. “This is a very big achievement,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
