The governments of Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday signed a historic agreement in the national capital Delhi to settle their 50-year-old border dispute. The agreement was signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Home Ministry’s office.
Agreed on 6 out of 12
The Chief Ministers of Meghalaya and Assam had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Guwahati on January 29 to resolve the border dispute at six places – Tarabari, Gijang, Hakim, Boklapada, Khanapara-Pilangkata and Ratchera – in the first phase. After this it was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs on 31 January.
On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed the agreement in the presence of Chief Secretaries of both the states as well as other officials of these states and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
What was the result of the agreement?
The governments of Assam and Meghalaya came out with a draft resolution to resolve their border disputes in six of the 12 “zones of difference” along the 884-km border. As per the proposed recommendations for 36.79 sq km of land, Assam will keep 18.51 sq km and give the remaining 18.28 sq km to Meghalaya.
What did Himanta Biswa Sarma say on the agreement?
After the historic agreement, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “This is a historic day for us. After this MoU, we aim to solve the problem of remaining disputed sites in the next 6-7 months. We will bring the Northeast region to the country.” We will work towards making it an engine of growth.” He said, “The Union Home Ministry also requested to resolve the border disputes between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. I had a meeting with the AP CM where we made a road map to settle the 122 disputed points. Mizoram and Nagaland CM K. Preliminary discussions have started with him.”
Meghalaya CM thanks Amit Shah
Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said, “First of all I want to thank Home Minister Amit Shah for directing us to resolve the border disputes in the northeastern states. Today the first phase of resolution has been done. This is Assam CM Himanta It was possible only because of Biswa Sarma.” “I would also like to thank all the members of the committee and the officials of both the states. We will try to resolve further differences between our states at the earliest,” he said.
What did Amit Shah say?