Nation

Assam, Meghalaya sign “historic” agreement to resolve 50-year-old dispute

March 29, 2022
Bharat Times

This agreement will resolve the long dispute at six of the 12 places with a border of 884.9 km.

new Delhi:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Konrad Sangma today signed an agreement regarding their border disputes pending for 50 years. The two leaders signed the agreement at the Union Home Ministry in Delhi in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and officials from both the states and the ministry.

Mr Shah called it a “historic day” and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the focus on the peace process in the Northeast, and its culture and development.

This agreement will resolve the long dispute between the two states at six of the 12 places along the border of 884.9 km.

The Home Minister said that 70 percent of the border dispute between the two states has been resolved with the signing of the agreement.

There are 36 villages in six locations, covering an area of ​​36.79 km, in respect of which agreement has been reached.

Of the 12 points of contention between Assam and Meghalaya, six areas with relatively less significant differences were taken up in the first phase.

Mr. Sangma thanked the Home Minister and also credited Mr. Sarma for the development. “Today the first phase of resolution has been completed. It has been possible only because of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma,” he said.

The Meghalaya Chief Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah gave the necessary thrust to resolve the long-pending border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya.

“There has been a lot of emphasis on the part of the Prime Minister and the 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 also. This is their stand,” Mr. Sangma said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Assam and Meghalaya was signed two months after the Chief Ministers of both the states submitted a draft proposal to Mr Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The governments of Assam and Meghalaya came out with a draft proposal to resolve their border disputes in six of the 12 “zones of difference” along a border of 884 km.

As per the proposed recommendations for 36.79 sq km of land, Assam will give 18.51 sq km and the remaining 18.28 sq km to Meghalaya.

The long-standing land dispute began in 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. Boundary issues arose as a result of various readings of the demarcation of borders in the initial agreement for the creation of the new state.