The high level Chief Minister level meeting on Assam-Meghalaya border dispute held in Guwahati today decided to have joint visits by the Chief Ministers to the areas of Karbi Anglong and West Jaintia Hills to find out an amicable solution to the inter-state border disputes.
The meeting held in State Guest House, Koinadhora where Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma along with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma discussed at length the prevailing situation along the inter-state border and discussed the outstanding border issues in a very cordial and friendly atmosphere.
It may be noted that Assam and Meghalaya had 12 areas of disputes with regard to their interstate boundaries and six areas have already been resolved. Today’s Chief Minister Level meeting was the first after Conrad K. Sangma started his second stint as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. The meeting had threadbare discussion on border disputes in six areas as Dr. Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart decided to visit areas of Assam’s Karbi Anglong district and Meghalaya’s West Karbi Anglong district in June. Their visit to the district will feature talking to all the stakeholders in a bid to have confidence building measures for taking the border issues to their logical conclusion as per the provisions of the Constitution.
The meeting also decided that the regional committees created for making the border talks productive would keep working to prepare the ground conducive for resolving the decade old border disagreements. The regional committees will also work and take different stakeholders in confidence to reach mutually agreeable solution to border disputes maintaining total peace.
Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said, “We are working towards finding amicable solution to the borders rows between the two states based on the spirit of age old friendship and camaraderie. Through the process of discussion, mutual trust and confidence, all the differences with regard to border issues will be resolved very soon”.
Both the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya will sit for another meeting in the month of July where review of the progress made by the Regional Committees towards solution of border issues will be assessed, the Chief Minister added.
Minister for Border Protection and Development Atul Bora, Water Resources etc Minister Pijush Hazarika, Minister Environment and Forest Chandra Mohan Patowary, Chief Secretary Paban Kumar Borthakur, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Samir Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary to Border Protection and Development G.D. Tripathi and other senior officers were present at the meeting from Assam side. Moreover, form Meghalaya, Deputy Chief Ministers Prestone Tynsong, Sniawbhalang Dhar, Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang other senior officers were present.