“It is a historic day for dispute-free Northeast,” said Shah, adding that since 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government has been working towards the “peace and development” of the Northeast. “In July last year, I had met the chief ministers of the Northeastern states in Meghalaya, and appealed to them that these [border] issues be resolved. I am happy that this [agreement between Assam and Meghalaya] has been achieved in such a short time,” he added.
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Since July last year, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma have been in talks to resolve the long-standing dispute along its 884-km-long border, which has witnessed flare-ups frequently.
While there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states, in July 2021, both governments identified six areas (Hahim, Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata, Ratacherra) for resolution in the first phase.
According to the final set of recommendations made jointly by both the states earlier in January, out of the 36.79 sq km of disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam would get full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km. Tuesday’s agreement was signed on the basis of these recommendations.
The next step in the process will involve delineation and demarcation of the boundary by the Survey of India (SoI) in the presence of representatives of both the governments. It will then be put up in Parliament for approval. Government officials said that this might take a few months.
(Photo: Twitter/@AmitShah)
“We knew resolving all twelve areas of differences at one go would be difficult, but if we approached it one by one, then it would be possible,” said Sarma, addressing the press in New Delhi after the agreement was signed. He added that in the next six to seven months, the second phase of resolution would commence for the remaining disputed sites.
ExplainedBigger challenge aheadDuring British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya besides Mizoram, which later became separate states. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, and has held a different interpretation of the border since. Over the years, frequent flare-ups have been reported along its 884-km-long border. In all, there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states — while the resolution of the first six is a significant development, the remaining six areas are more complex and may prove to be a bigger challenge.
Meghalaya CM Sangma said the agreement would not have been possible without “political will and leadership.” “Over the months, the committees formed by the respective state governments travelled extensively through the disputed sites and spoke to the villagers… it is because of this hard work that we have managed to reach a consensus,” he said.
Following the initial meeting in July between Sangma and Sarma, another five rounds of meetings were held in the following months. Subsequently, minister-level regional committees formed by both the states made frequent visits to the disputed areas and submitted reports based on five mutually agreed principles: historical perspective, ethnicity of local population, contiguity with boundary, peoples’ will and administrative convenience.
A number of attempts had been made in the past to resolve the boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya. In 1985, under then Assam chief minister Hiteshwar Saikia and Meghalaya chief minister Captain WA Sangma, an official committee to resolve the issue was constituted under former Supreme Court Chief Justice YV Chandrachud. However, a solution could not be found.
A senior government official from Assam involved in the matter had earlier told The Indian Express that there was a vital difference between attempts made by the previous government and this one, since the problem had now been “broken down to chewable bits”, and the “low-hanging fruits had been identified first.”
“Among the four states Assam has border disputes with, Meghalaya was the softest to handle and the six areas taken for study did not have large differences,” he had said, adding that the frequent meetings among the two CMs (Sangma and Sarma have met as many as eight times since July) also went a long way towards a significant progress in the talks. “The remaining areas of dispute are more complex,” he said.
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