GUWAHATI : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday took to microblogging site Twitter to announce that the roadmap for amicable settlement of border disputes with Meghalaya in six areas of difference has been prepared through mutual consultations by the two state governments.
The areas of differences taken up for final settlement in the first phase are Hahim, Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillingkata and Ratacherra.
“Our efforts to resolve Assam-Meghalaya border row have started bearing fruits as 6 of the 12 areas of difference have been identified for resolution in the first phase," Sarma tweeted.
The tweet came after the Assam CM had an interaction with leaders of political parties of the state on the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute
Representatives of various political parties such as the Congress, CPI(M), Asom Gana Parishad, Bodoland People's Front and the All India United Democratic Front were present at the meeting.
Opposition party Congress, however, called for more discussion on the matter, particularly in the state Assembly, saying that the government has proposed an approach in which both states would lose or get some areas.
“A roadmap for amicable settlement has been prepared based on recommendations of 3 Regional Committees with representatives from both the states. We've reached this stage after several rounds of CM-level talks on the matter," Sarma said.
The Twitter post, however, did not provide the details of the "roadmap for amicable settlement".
Chief Minister Sarma had on 12 January said that both governments have arrived at ‘mutual understanding’ over these six areas of boundary dispute and an agreement can be expected within this month if civil society organisations and opposition political parties come on the same page as the governments.
“In principle, both governments have reached a consensus that our assessments on the disputes are the same," he had said after a meeting with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma here.
Four rounds of chief ministerial level talks between Sarma and Sangma have taken place over the border issue since Sarma assumed office in May last year.
Three committees each were formed by the two state governments in August 2021 after the first two rounds of talks between Sarma and Sangma to resolve the vexed border disputes in a phased manner.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 and it had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to disputes at 12 areas in different parts of the shared 884.9 km long border.
