"On Verge Of Finalising Boundary Lines": Meghalaya, Assam Chief Ministers On Border Row

Assam and Meghalaya are on the verge of finalising the actual boundary lines in the first six areas of difference as part of the ongoing process to resolve the border disputes, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma announced at a joint press conference on Saturday.

Conrad Sarma termed the discussions "very cordial".

The discussions were held at the Chief Ministerial level on border disputes between two states in six remaining areas, Guwahati on Saturday.

Briefing media persons after the meeting, Mr Sangma said, "We are happy to inform the people of both Assam and Meghalaya that after a very long drawn exercise, we are now on the verge of of finalising the actual pillars and actual boundary lines in the first six areas of differences signed a MoU in the presence of Union Home Minister."

Mr Sarma said as a "confidence-building measure", both states have decided to wind up the judicial commission probing the Mukroh firing incident.

"Today, we met to further resolve the Assam-Meghalaya border dispute. The discussions were very cordial and we have been able to take certain very important decisions today," Mr Sarma said.

"As a confidence-building measure and in order not to put respective officers of both states under stress or duress, we have decided to wind up the judicial commission, which was set up at the behest of our two governments to inquire about the Mukroh firing incident,"Mr Sarma said.

The tension between Assam and Meghalaya is not new. Even though both states have partially resolved a 50-year-old border dispute in six of the 12 sectors along their 885 km boundary, the dispute between the local groups continues to threaten peace in the area.

A few days ago, fresh clashes erupted between two communities living at the Assam-Meghalaya border, with rival groups reportedly going at each other using bows, arrows, and catapults in Lapangap village.

There are a total of 12 disputed areas along the inter-state border of Assam and Meghalaya, and out of the 12 issues in disputed areas, six have been resolved to the satisfaction of both states.

Both governments formed regional committees to resolve the remaining problems in the six disputed areas.

Mr Sarma added that the state government will request the CBI to investigate the Mukroh firing incident.

"Both the state government will now request the CBI to investigate the matter, without registering a case either in Guwahati or Shillong," Mr Sarma added.

In March last year, Himanta Sarma and his counterpart Sangma signed a "historic" agreement for closure in six disputed sectors that were taken up for resolution in the first phase, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, in New Delhi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)