Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has assured that his government will soon engage with Assam to resolve the long-standing boundary dispute in Changlang district, which was left out of previous settlement agreements.
Speaking in the Assembly on Wednesday, Khandu clarified that Changlang was excluded from the 2022 Namsai Declaration, which aimed to reduce the number of disputed villages along the Assam-Arunachal border from 123 to 86. The omission occurred because the Regional Committee for Changlang failed to submit its report to the Supreme Court-appointed Local Commission.
Independent MLA Laisam Simai raised concerns, stating that the regional committee for Changlang, formed in June 2022, has remained inactive due to Assam’s opposition. Assam cited the 2014 Local Commission report, which did not list any disputed villages in Changlang, as the reason for excluding the district from boundary talks.
Home Minister Mama Natung informed the Assembly that Assam had objected to Changlang’s inclusion, leading to delays in its resolution. However, he reaffirmed that the state government has formally requested Assam to expedite discussions, and the issue remains under active review.
Khandu highlighted that while boundary disputes in five districts have been resolved, talks in six other districts—Pakke Kessang, Papum Pare, Kamle, Lower Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, and Longding—are in advanced stages. Joint inspections of disputed areas were agreed upon during a September 2024 meeting between regional committees of both states.
The Assam-Arunachal border dispute dates back to 1972 when Arunachal became a Union Territory. Arunachal has long claimed that certain forested areas, historically inhabited by its tribal communities, were unilaterally transferred to Assam. Despite a tripartite recommendation in 1987 to reassign some territories to Arunachal, Assam opposed the move, keeping the matter pending before the Supreme Court for decades.
With Changlang being the second-largest district in Arunachal and sharing a vast border with Assam, Khandu assured the House that his government is committed to ensuring a fair and amicable resolution to the dispute.
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