Assam, Meghalaya Sign Agreement To Resolve 50-Year-Old Boundary Dispute, Himanta Biswa Sarma Calls it ‘Historic’

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed the agreement in the presence of the chief secretaries of both states.

New Delhi: It was a historic day for both the states as Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday signed an agreement to resolve their 50-year-old pending boundary difference. Notably, the agreement was signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“It is a historic day for us. After this MoU, in the next 6-7 months, we aim to resolve the issue of the remaining disputed sites. We will work towards making the Northeast region a growth engine in the country,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed the agreement in the presence of the chief secretaries of both states.

Delhi | Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma sign an agreement to resolve the 50-year-old pending boundary dispute between their states. pic.twitter.com/0ocEKgsuKR

— ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2022

“Firstly I want to thank HM Amit Shah for giving us the direction to resolve the border disputes in the North-Eastern states. Today the first phase of the resolution has been done. It could only be possible because of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said.

Significantly, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Assam and Meghalaya two months after a draft resolution was submitted by the Chief Ministers of both states to Amit Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration by the MHA.

“Today, a 50-year-old pending boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya has been resolved. 6 out of 12 points of the dispute has been resolved, which comprises nearly 70% of the boundary. The remaining 6 points will be resolved at the earliest,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

Shah also added that since 2014, PM Modi has made numerous efforts for the development of the northeast region. “Today, I congratulate Assam CM and Meghalaya CM and their teams on the signing of the agreement to resolve their boundary dispute,” Shah added.

The long-standing boundary dispute between the two states sparked in 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. The border issues came as a result of different readings of the demarcation of boundaries in the initial agreement for the new state’s creation.

(With inputs from ANI)