Assam, Arunachal CMs Hold 3rd Meet To Resolve Border Dispute. Report To Be Submitted By Sept 15

It has been decided in today's meeting that a report over the dispute is to be submitted by September 15 and all districts have been informed to maintain unity and law & order.

(Image: ANI)

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu held a meeting with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday over the seven decades-long Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border issue in Namsai on Thursday. While addressing a press conference after the meeting, Khandu told reporters that the dispute has been underway for over 70 years now, but under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, they have been advised to resolve it across the table. 

"Under Namsai declaration we resolved the matter surrounding 37 villages. We have set timeline for remaining 86 villages. We will try to resolve it by year-end," Kandu said.

"Meeting was held in Namsai today over Assam-Arunachal border issue. I thank the PM and HM, due to their visionary guidance, it was a successful meeting. I also thank Assam CM that due to his proactive leadership we had a positive outcome today," he said.

According to reports, it has been decided in today's meeting that a report over the dispute is to be submitted by September 15 and all districts within the controversial site have been informed to maintain unity and law & order.

"It has been decided today that a report on the same is to be submitted by September 15. All districts have been informed to maintain unity, law & order. No committee will go to these districts alone, committees of both the states will go together," Sarma told reporters.

"These regional committees will have a 9-point of reference... talk to people, civil society and go to every village to resolve the dispute. Assam & Arunachal Pradesh governments have notified 12 committees and 96 people of these committees are present in the meeting today," Sarma said.

Sarma also said that until the issue gets resolved, development activities, school, education, health, road construction and the agreed status quo will continue. "We won't bother people. We will try to accomplish what Amit Shah said," adding that the Home Minister has assured that this issue will be resolved within this year.

"This Namsai declaration will be sent to Government of India for further action. In case a concrete resolution comes from any village before September 15, we will send that too. An interim MoU can be signed to hold talks in case some dispute remains," Sarma added.

Assam CM also pointed out that the border dispute between the two states has now been reduced or restricted. "Only 86 villages have the dispute now, not 123 villages... this is historic," he said.

This was the third meeting between both the Chief Ministers towards resolving the border dispute between the two states. In the last meeting, it was decided that state governments will form district-level committees led by cabinet ministers to resolve the decades-old boundary issue.

Arunachal Pradesh broke itself out of Assam to become a Union Territory first and later became a state in 1987. The two northeaster states share a massive 804 km border and the boundry issue began while Arunachal was carved out of Assam. The issue is now pending in Supreme Court.