Delay in Assam-Meghalaya border talks due to 'complexity'; to resume in Oct: CM Sangma

Guwahati, Sept 29: After a halt of several months, the next round of the second phase of border talks between Assam and Meghalaya is slated to resume this October.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma announced the development on Friday, attributing the previous delay to the “complexity” surrounding the six disputed areas under discussion.

Highlighting the need for thorough discussions, he told a Shillong-based daily, “We have to ensure that we discuss every aspect in these areas in a thread-bare manner.”

He highlighted that he has maintained ongoing communication with his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma, noting that several meetings have taken place recently to address the issues at hand. "Unofficially as well, we had multiple discussions," he added.

However, the earlier delay in the talks had been framed differently by Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh, who criticised the “lack of cooperation” from the Assam Boundary Committee.

He noted that crucial discussions were postponed because the Assam Boundary Committee “had not conducted a spot inspection of the disputed Langpih sector”.

The six contentious areas being examined in the second phase include Langpih in the West Khasi Hills District, Borduar, Nongwah-Mawtamur, Deshdoomreah, Block-II in Ri Bhoi District, and Block-I, Psiar-Khanduli in the West Jaintia Hills District.

This dialogue follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in March 2022, which settled the long-standing border dispute across six of the 12 contentious areas between the states.

The Union Home Ministry had announced that this agreement resolved “approximately 70% of the border issues” between the two states.

On September 26 of the same year, both state governments established three regional committees tasked with examining and reporting on the current status of the remaining six areas of contention shared with Assam.