NEW DELHI, March 29: Meghalaya and Assam on Tuesday finalised the all-important border agreement signed on January 29, 2022, effectively bringing to an end the lingering dispute in six of the 12 areas of differences, prompting the Union government to term it as a “historic day” and a “milestone” for the entire Northeast.
Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma and his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma signed the agreement in the national capital in the presence of Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, bringing the curtains down on the 50-year-old dispute. The agreement, interestingly, coincides with Meghalaya’s year-long golden jubilee celebrations of statehood.
With the signing of the agreement, 70% of the border dispute between the two states has been resolved, the Home Minister said and hoped that a solution will be found for the remaining six locations soon.
The Home Minister was all praise for the two CMs and said that their strong political will would make the Northeast dispute-free, hereafter. “This agreement exemplifies cooperative federalism and will provide a roadmap for resolution of other border disputes,” he added.
Shah said the development of the Northeast is not possible unless disputes between states are resolved and militant groups lay down arms. The agreement will benefit people living in the border areas and ensure long-lasting peace and boost development, he added.
“This is a historic day for the people of Meghalaya and Assam and the Northeast. We have taken a major step towards finding a permanent solution to a 50-year-long dispute,” Conrad told reporters later, adding that the emphasis was put on the will of the people living in the border areas, along with the other parameters such as historical facts and documents, as the talks were taken forward.
“The agreement is based on the MoU that was signed between the two states on January 29, 2022. We have identified the areas/villages but the actual survey to mark the border will be done by the Survey of India,” he said.
“We will continue to work on finding solutions in the six remaining areas of differences and I am hopeful of a solution. I am also hopeful that all the differences of other Northeast states would be resolved,” Conrad said, thanking the leadership, the regional committee members and the officials for playing key roles during the resolution process since August last year.
Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the roadmap for resolution of the state’s border disputes with Meghalaya in the remaining six areas has been charted with the “historic” agreement on the six ‘less complicated’ border areas.
He added that in the next six to seven months, the second phase of resolution would commence for the remaining disputed sites.
The six areas of differences where the resolution process has concluded with the inking of the agreement on Tuesday are Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillangkata and Ratacherra – falling under West Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts in Meghalaya and Cachar, Kamrup Metro and Kamrup districts in Assam.
The two states had formed three regional committees each in August last year to go into the vexed boundary issue. The constitution of the panels had followed two rounds of talks between Conrad and Himanta where the states resolved to settle the dispute in a phased manner.
According to the final set of recommendations made jointly by both the states earlier in January, out of the 36.79 sq km of disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam would get full control over 18.51 sq km, covering six villages, while Meghalaya will get 18.28 sq km spread over 30 villages. Tuesday’s agreement was signed based on these recommendations, official sources said.
The next step in the process will involve delineation and demarcation of the boundary by the Survey of India in the presence of representatives of both the governments. It will then be put up in Parliament for approval. Government officials said that this might take a few months.
During British rule, the geographical area of Assam included the present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram, which later became separate states. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 but the new state had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to dispute in the 12 areas of differences.
Over the years, frequent flare-ups have been reported along the interstate border. In all, there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states — while the resolution of the first six is a significant development, the remaining six areas are more complex and may prove to be a bigger challenge.
A number of attempts had been made in the past to resolve the boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya. In 1985, under then Assam chief minister Hiteshwar Saikia and Meghalaya chief minister Captain WA Sangma, an official committee to resolve the issue was constituted under former Supreme Court Chief Justice YV Chandrachud. However, a solution could not be found.