By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Union Minister of State for Water Resources Vincent H Pala has favoured involvement of the Centre in the dialogue process between Assam and Meghalaya on the vexed boundary issue.
“The Centre’s involvement is very crucial for solving this long pending issue. But I am not in favour of any kind of imposition on the part of the Union Government,” Pala said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organized to mark the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Political Science department of St Edmund’s College here on Saturday.
During the recent meeting of the North East Congress Coordination Committee (NECCC) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had underlined the need to resolve the boundary dispute mutually and peacefully between the two States, Pala said.
“In fact, the inter-state boundary problem between Assam and Meghalaya is expected to be discussed at the next NECCC meet to be held at Dimapur later this year,” the Union Minister informed.
When asked for his views on the suggestion that there should be arbitrator who would oversee the dialogue between the two States, instead of giving a direct reply Pala said, “There should be a mechanism in place for solving this issue.”
Recently, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had said that his Assam counterpart was not averse to the idea of having a mutually agreed arbitrator.
Earlier, addressing the function, the Union Minister informed that the Centre is seriously considering opening up of borders to South and South East Asia countries under the Look East Policy.
“Due to security reason the process has been slow but the Centre is serious about it,” he said.
He also said that once the region is opened up to South and South East Asia, Shillong would be the main business hub of the region.
Pala also stated that opening of border haats in Meghalaya and other parts of the region is a step in this direction, adding that the GDP of the region would jump once the Look East Policy comes into effect.