Guwahati: The Union Minister for State Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday informed that talks to address the border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya are ongoing at various levels.
“Discussions have been going on at various levels between Assam and Meghalaya to arrive at an acceptable solution to the border issue,” Rai said in response to a question from BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Assam Bhubaneswar Kalita in the Upper House.
“The Central government’s approach has always been that inter-state boundary issues can only be resolved with the cooperation of the State Governments involved, and that the Central government acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the boundary issue in the spirit of mutual co-operation and understanding,” he said.
He also stated that the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya had agreed to a permanent settlement of the inter-state boundary in six areas of disagreement, out of a total of 12 areas of disagreement between the two states.
Border dispute between Assam and Mizoram occurred in July last year, killing six Assam police officers and injuring at least 50 others, including the Cachar district superintendent of police, in the bordering areas of Lailapur (Cachar district, Assam) and Vairengte (Kolasib district, Mizoram).
There have been numerous clashes between the two states due to particular contested places on the Assam-Mizoram border.