GUWAHATI: Arunachal’s boundary dispute with Assam is at 1,200 sites but Chief Minister Pema Khandu is confident the issue could be resolved permanently soon.
What gives him this confidence is his recent meeting on the dispute with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Assam has boundary disputes also with Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Recently, Assam and Meghalaya resolved the dispute in six of the 12 friction points, subject to the ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed by the two states, by the Parliament. Sarma had played a key role in it.
Khandu said his second round of meeting with the Assam CM would be held soon, followed by the visits of the stakeholders to the disputed sites. He was optimistic the problem could be settled once and for all.
“We are committed to finding a permanent solution to all our existing boundary issues soon,” Khandu said.
Recently, Sarma had stated, “Now, we (Assam and Arunachal) know who and which communities are living where. We will try to solve the problem early.”
There was a clear delineation of the boundary when Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were created as states. However, when Mizoram, Arunachal, and Nagaland were created, it was left to certain situations and the ambiguity remained, leading to the disputes, he had stated.
Sarma had also said that resolving Assam’s boundary disputes with Nagaland and Mizoram would not be easy.
Assam and Meghalaya had adopted the policy of “give-and-take”.
According to the draft resolution, 18.51 sq km of the disputed 36.79 sq km of land in six of the 12 areas of difference will go to Assam and the remaining 18.28 sq km to Meghalaya. It is on this principle that the two states had signed the MoU in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
Some suggest that other states can now explore this “50:50” template to resolve their boundary disputes.