Guwahati: Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma has stated that the state administration will not abandon border discussions with Assam over the remaining six areas of disagreement between the two states.
Sangma said, “We haven’t abandoned (the border discussions) but there are a lot of questions and concerns going on, and a lot of study has to be done again and again in this entire affair, since no action has been taken in fact for 50 years, so finally the MDA administration has taken the initiative.”
The Meghalaya chief minister was responding to a question on when the two states will begin the second phase of border talks after an MoU was signed on March 29 in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi to address issues over six areas.
He stated that the government is also concerned about the issue and that a lot of effort is being done behind the scenes.
Sangma said, “We have started doing our homework because it requires a lot of work, lots of documentations, mapping. We cannot just look at old maps because we realise in the last report that was submitted in 2011 as there were lots of concerns and there were maps that were really some areas were not very clear, so it requires a lot of drone mapping all these areas. So, there’s a lot of planning going on, and it’s not easy.”
“We can always meet for the sake of meeting. It is not a problem at all, but before we meet, it is critical that we plan correctly, complete our homework, and prepare the necessary documents – which is exactly what we are doing on our end,” he added.