Relief in Sight: Assam and Mizoram to Resume Crucial Border Talks After Over a Year of Tension
Mizoram and Assam are set to resume border talks on August 9, twenty months after their last discussion aimed at resolving the long-standing inter-state boundary dispute. Mizoram Home Minister K. Sapdanga confirmed that the meeting would take place in Aizawl, with Mizoram’s delegation led by him and Assam’s team headed by Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora.
The most recent talks occurred in November 2022 in Guwahati. Sapdanga stated that Assam’s home secretary expressed their intent to come to Aizawl last week, and Mizoram consented following consultation with Chief Minister Lalduhoma. Sapdanga remains hopeful that the upcoming talks will yield positive results for an amiable resolution to the decades-old dispute.
Despite an agreement in February between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mizoram to send Bora to Mizoram in March, no further action was taken due to the Lok Sabha elections. The border issue has roots in colonial-era demarcations from 1875 and 1933, with Mizoram claiming 509 square miles under the 1875 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, while Assam considers the 1933 Survey of India map its constitutional boundary. Since the violent clash in July 2021, where six Assam policemen and a civilian died, both states have maintained the status quo.
The disputed border spans 164.6 km, affecting Mizoram’s Aizawl, Kolasib, and Mamit districts, and Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts. The lack of ground demarcation has exacerbated tensions, as areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under both states’ claimed territories. The upcoming discussion marks another attempt to resolve the issue through dialogue, with previous talks and ministerial-level meetings emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace along the disputed boundary.
Original Story https://www.indiatodayne.in/assam/story/assam-mizoram-to-resume-border-talks-after-over-a-year-1060156-2024-07-30?utm_source=rssfeed
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