GUWAHATI, Jan 29: The chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya on Saturday held another crucial round of discussions on the interstate boundary issues in regard to six “less complicated” areas of differences ahead of meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi in the coming days.
The 45-minute-long meeting between Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad K Sangma was held at Taj Vivanta here even as the details of the discussions were not disclosed before media persons present there.
According to sources, the meeting was also attended by Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and Assam Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika along with the regional committee members and other officials of the two states.
Meanwhile, Hazarika, while speaking to media late on Saturday evening said that “spot inspections, along with Tynsong, were carried out in Khanapara and Patharkuchi area today to sort out some minor confusion in some areas.”
“We have taken the factors into account, along with local aspirations and will submit reports (in regard to the areas visited today) to the respective state governments…Both chief ministers will thereafter meet the Union Home Minister and the final call will be taken by Parliament. We can only give our suggestions because interstate boundary demarcation is a subject of the central government,” Hazarika, the chairperson of the Kamrup (Metro) regional committee, told reporters.
Sangma had on Thursday disclosed that both states reached an agreement in 98% of the six areas.
On the remaining two per cent boundary disputes, Sangma clarified that “there are differences, but both states have to go through the reports and match them as there are claims and counter-claims in some areas.”
Both the chief ministers had on January 20 met the Union home minister in Delhi and apprised him of the progress made in regard to resolving the border disputes in the six areas.
The six areas are Tarabari (4.69 sq km), Gizang (13.53 sq km), Hahim (3.51 sq km), Boklapara (1.57 sq km), Khanapara-Pilangkata (2.29 sq km) and Ratacherra (11.20 sq km) – falling under West Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, East Jaintia Hills districts in Meghalaya and Cachar, Kamrup Metro and Kamrup districts in Assam.
It may be mentioned that the first round of border talks initiated by the two chief ministers was held in July 2021, with both states subsequently agreeing to take the process forward on the basis of give and take and by considering key factors such as historical facts, ethnicity, administrative convenience, contiguity of the land, willingness, and people’s sentiments in the areas of dispute.
Assam GSU unit submits memorandum
Meanwhile, the Assam unit of the Garo Students’ Union (GSU) submitted a memorandum to the Assam chief minister, requesting an amicable solution to the decades-old interstate boundary problems with Meghalaya at the earliest.
“The hopes and aspirations of the people living in the disputed sites of both states are to be well examined and their sentiments to be respected,” the union wrote in the memorandum.
“Loss or gain in terms of area, property, etc should not be taken as the basis for resolving the dispute, rather attaining mutual trust and peaceful co-existence among the people inhabiting the presently so called disputed sites should be the guiding and determining principle in resolving the issue,” it said.