Assam, Meghalaya CMs hold meeting over bilateral growth prospects amid border talks

Guwahati, August 16: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma at his office here on Saturday and held discussions on various issues.

"We discussed a wide gamut of issues to strengthen the mutual growth of both our sister states," Sarma said through a post on social media.

Sarma, however, did not elaborate on the issues discussed by the chief ministers of the two neighbouring states.

The two Chief Minister’s had last met on June 2 and agreed to erect border pillars in five among the six of the total 12 disputed areas, by Independence Day.

Border pillars were decided to be constructed in five areas and not in the sixth at Pilingata as there were some "difference of interpretation", because of which the deputy commissioners of both the states were scheduled to discuss the matter.

These remaining six areas of dispute between the two states include Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilangkata, and Ratacherra.

The meeting comes on the heels of simmering tensions in several disputed areas along the interstate border, particularly in Boko’s Tarabari.

The Nam-Tarabari and Upper Tarabari regions, though geographically within Assam, have long been claimed by certain groups from Meghalaya.

On August 10, following reports of escalating unrest in the area, officials from both Assam and Meghalaya conducted a joint survey.

Speaking to reporters during the inspection, Kamrup District Commissioner Deba Kumar Mishra said that, in addition to surveying the disputed areas, the team interacted extensively with residents and noted their grievances.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 and it had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to disputes in 12 areas of the 884.9-km-long border between the two states.

Sarma, on becoming Assam's chief minister in May 2021, had announced that his priority was to resolve long-standing boundary disputes with the neighbouring states. Subsequently, three regional committees were set up in August 2021 to resolve the issues in a phased manner.

The regional committees submitted their recommendations which were handed over to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi by the two chief ministers, followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on March 29, 2022 to resolve disputes in six of the 12 areas.

According to the agreement, 36.79 sq km of the disputed area was taken up for settlement in the first phase, with Assam getting full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km of land.

With inputs from PTI