GUWAHATI, July 20: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said he expected “some headway” in the Assam-Meghalaya border talks in Shillong on July 23 with Meghalaya Chief Miniser Conrad Sangma, ahead of the two-day North Eastern Council (NEC) meeting to be attended by Union home minister Amit Shah.
Addressing media persons on the state Assembly premises here, Sarma said that he would meet Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on July 23 to “amicably resolve the border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya”.
“Likewise, I will also meet the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister (Pema Khandu) to discuss the inter-state border situation. I think we can expect some headway in regard to the Assam-Meghalaya and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border discussions,” he said.
The two-day NEC meeting in Shillong, Sarma said would take up key issues on Northeast development, apart from addressing issues such as drugs and human trafficking and general law and order.
On the contrary, the chief minister said he did not expect any immediate result in regard to the Assam-Mizoram border impasse.
“It will take some time as the current situation is not very conducive along the inter-state border with an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation (between forces/people) going on along the border in Hailakandi, Karimganj and Cachar districts,” Sarma said.
“The Union home secretary had recently discussed the situation with the chief secretaries of Assam and Mizoram in Delhi to resolve the crisis. But the situation along the border, as of now, is still fragile,” he said.
In regard to the Assam-Nagaland border dispute, he said the matter was sub judice as the Supreme Court was hearing the case.
