Guwahati: Ministers and top government representatives from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh met on Saturday night at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati to discuss the long-running border conflict between the two states.
According to reports, a definitive resolution to the contentious border conflict between the two states was reportedly discussed at the conference.
Ministers from Assam’s cabinet, Ranoj Pegu and Jayanta Malla Baruah and Arunachal Pradesh Tumke Bagra presided over the meeting with state MLAs. The gathering also included other top officers.
“Attended the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh Border Regional Committee Meeting held today at Assam Administrative Staff College. We deliberated on finding a permanent solution to the border dispute between the two states,” Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu tweeted.
Meanwhile, Jayanta Malla Baruah tweeted, “Held a 5 hour long Regional Committee Meeting to deliberate upon the Assam Arunachal Pradesh Border issue at Assam Administrative Staff College this evening. Under the leadership of HHM Shri @AmitShah ji, we are hopeful to find out a proper solution very soon on amicable terms.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu signed the Namsai Declaration on July 15 of last year pledging to quickly find solutions to the border disputes between the two states. Since then, the two states have been holding talks to resolve the border disputes.
The regional committees of the two states had a significant gathering in January of this year in Guwahati. The regional committees completed the report to be delivered to the Center as a result of the conference. 57 contested settlements in the surrounding areas have been the subject of discussions.
The two states that share an 804.1 km-long border had decided to restrict the ‘disputed villages’ to 86 instead of the previous 123.
The grievance of Arunachal Pradesh which was made a union territory in 1972 is that several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities were unilaterally transferred to Assam.