Arunachal Pradesh,Assam to soon form panels to resolve boundary disputes

After Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and its neigbouring state Assam on 20th April has decided to soon form District Level Committees for resolving the boundary disputes and conflicts between the 2 states in a time-bound manner.

The decision to resolve boundary disputes was taken during the second Chief Minister level meeting between both the states held at State Guest House, Koinadhora in Guwahati on 20th April in presence of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is at present focusing on settling the border dispute issue with its neighboring state Arunchal pradesh.

“We have decided to now form district-level committees in both the states to resolve the issue in a time-bound manner. The district committees will be undertaking joint surveys in the disputed areas to find tangible solutions to the long-pending issue based on ethnicity, contiguity,historical perspective, people’s will and administrative convenience of both the states. We have also finalized the terms of reference of the committees,”Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The meeting also had the presence of Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, Assam Border Area Development Minister Atul Bora, and other senior officials from both states.

In August last year, the Assam CM told the state assembly that, both the states have nearly 1,200 disputed spots along their 804 km boundary. In March 2022, Meghalaya and Assam governments also signed an agreement to resolve their 50-year-old pending border dispute.

The governments of both the states had also come up with a draft resolution to resolve their border disputes in 6 of the 12 “areas of difference” along the boundary.