The signing of the MoU between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma took place at the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the national Capital of Delhi.
New Delhi: In order to resolve the fifty-year-long boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya, the Chief Ministers of both the states on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The signing of the MoU between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma at the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the national Capital of Delhi.
Notably, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, which is when the dispute arose. It is important to note that the dispute between the two states had reached such a position that the police forces of the two states had engaged in a scuffle leaving six Assam Police personnel dead and more than 100 civilians injured in both sides.
Shah congratulated the people of both the states and hoped that the move will prove to be a milestone in the development of the northeastern states. He said that his government has made lots of efforts to ensure overall development of the northeastern states. “We have resolved various issues in the region since our government came to power in the Centre. During today’s (Tuesday) agreement, six of the 12 issues between these two states (Assam and Meghalaya) have been sorted out while the dispute related to the boundary (almost 70 per cent) has been resolved.”
As per the report, the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya had submitted a draft resolution to Shah for examination and consideration by the MHA in January this year. Both the states had come up with a draft resolution to resolve their border disputes in six of the 12 “areas of difference” along the 884-kilometre boundary.
Assam will keep 18.51 square kilometre of land and will give Meghalaya 18.28 square kilometre of land, according to the proposed recommendations for the 36.79 square kilometre of land.
