On Sunday, the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya decided to begin negotiations to settle the interstate border issue in six places where disagreements still exist.
To resolve the concerns in six other comparable sites, an agreement was made between the two northern neighbors earlier this year.
“We have made the decision to go to work on addressing the issues in the remaining six contentious locations. These locations may be found in three districts while looking at them from Meghalaya. Both states will create three regional committees (RCs) to carry out, each of which will be led by a cabinet minister. “After the meeting, Mr. Sarma spoke with the media.
According to him, the committees will be informed within 15 days. At that point, they will start site inspections and attempt to settle the conflict “according to the larger perimeter” in initial talks between the two governments.
Later, Mr. Sarma tweeted, “This was resolved at my 9th meeting with my Meghalaya counterpart Shri @SangmaConrad ji.”
READ MORE: Today’s “All-Party Meeting” In J&K To Discuss “Inclusion Of Non-Local Voters”
“Site inspections & public consultation will also start once the RCs are created. HCM of Assam @himantabiswa & I will pay trips to several of the places in order to instil confidence in the populace & in the spirit of committment to settle our border problem “In a tweet, Mr. Sangma made a statement.
In the tweet, he also included the handles of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the presence of Mr. Shah, the two states had signed a memorandum of understanding in New Delhi on March 29 to settle the five-decade-old border issue in six of the 12 disputed districts.
The agreement was achieved based on suggestions made by regional committees that the two governments had established and discussions with members of civil society and political parties.
We hope and pray that the second phase will go as well as the first and that there will be some settlement between the two parties, Mr. Sarma remarked.
In contrast to the first phase, which encompassed locations like Lampi in Assam’s Kamrup district and portions under the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, the Assam Chief Minister stated the territories involved in the second phase are a “bit difficult” (KAAC). He said the regional committee established for that section would include KAAC officials.
To reiterate the two governments’ commitment to an amicable and satisfactory resolution of the issues, Mr. Sarma continued, “If and when appropriate, the chief ministers will meet and offer direction to the regional committees.”
Tarabari (4.69 sq km), Gizang (13.53 sq km), Hashim (3.51 sq km), Boklapara (1.57 sq km), Khanapara-Pilangkata (2.29 sq km), and Ratacherra are the six locations that were selected for final settlement in the first phase (11.20 sq km).
According to the accord, Assam would get 18.46 sq km and Meghalaya 18.33 sq km of the 36.79 sq km territory for resolution in the first phase.
“The survey and boundary demarkation processes are under ongoing for the six regions of discrepancies in Phase 1. The governments of Meghalaya and Assam are striving to see that the survey is completed “Added Mr. Sangma in a subsequent tweet.
Villages in disputed blocks 1 and 2 that were moved from the then-United Khasi and Jaintia district to Assam’s Karbi Anglong district for administrative convenience in the 1950s are among the remaining six regions.
Meghalaya was established as a distinct state from Assam in 1972 after contesting the Assam Reorganisation Act of 1971, which resulted in disagreements at 12 locations along the two states’ 884.9 km-long boundaries.
