By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: More than a year has elapsed since the Langpih incident first occurred but the long-standing vexatious boundary problem with Assam remains unresolved much to the consternation of those living at the borders.
While the NGOs of the State have been asking the State Government to speed up the talks process with the neighbouring Assam, the Chief Secretary, WMS Pariat feels confident that issue would soon be resolved.
Talking to The Shillong Times here, Chief Secretary WMS Pariat said, “We will not take much time now to solve the matter through talks.”
The border row between the two neighbouring states took an ugly turn on May 14 last year when four people were shot dead by Assam police.
Since then both states have on principle agreed to resolve the contentious issue at the earliest.
The two governments then decided to set out the modalities for the talks. Last year the State Cabinet approved the modalities set out by the committee headed by Chief Secretary WMS Pariat for the proposed dialogue with the Assam Government on the boundary dispute.
Reacting to a query about the delay in talks with Assam even as the Langpih incident is now dragging on for over a year, Pariat said the Chief Secretary-level talks are not linked with the Langpih incident and both the chief secretaries are focussing on the border dispute in its entirety.
It may be mentioned that soon after the incident, Justice PC Phukan Commission was instituted and it is probing the incident on Langpih which led to the killing of four people.
Pariat has maintained that no date has been fixed for the next round of talks between the two chief secretaries but hinted that the talks may take place soon after the Durga Puja festival is over.
“We have not fixed any date but most likely the meeting will be held after the puja,” Pariat added here while speaking on the Langpih issue.
The last chief secretary-level meeting to iron out the long-pending border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya was held in August this year. Discussions were held between the two states on the controversial areas.
It may be mentioned that there are a total of 12 areas of differences along the Assam-Meghalaya boundary, including Langpih, that await solution and have been hanging fire for years.