Shillong, Nov 18: With the regional committees of Assam and Meghalaya expected to submit their respective reports by November 30, Meghalaya will be holding extensive consultations with various stakeholders to resolve the six areas of difference with neighbouring Assam under phase 1 at the earliest.

“Once this is done (submissionof report), we will start the consultative processes in our respective state be it with political parties, Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) or different organizations, traditional heads and all the stakeholders… We will do an extensive consultation based on the reports we received and once that is done then we will finally once again sit with Assam counterparts,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters on Wednesday.

“If we are able to come into agreement or consensus then we will try to resolve the issues. In fact we are trying it before Christmas, we will try to find a solution,” he added.

On Tuesday, Sangma along with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma jointly visited Langpih, one of the areas of difference, as part of confidence building measures to resolve the long pending border dispute.

Stating that it is not a very simple task as there are lots of complications, the chief minister said, “It is a process and there is hope and effort being made. All the chairmen have really been working hard and we will try our best to see before Christmas at least the six areas to whatever extent we atleast some level of resolution should be there.”

Conrad comes down hard on Congress

On the Congress asking the government not to take any hasty decision on the boundary issue, Sangma said, “The concerns of the opposition are noted down. Obviously we are not going to be in haste… in fact the efforts being made in the last two months is very extensive.”

Taking a jibe at the opposition, he said, “The visits made (to Langpih) have never been done before. It is sad that earlier the Congress government did not make any efforts at all. As I mentioned earlier, they will not even know the names of the areas of difference, forget the names of the villages. I am sure they have never visited those locations either.”

“No efforts were made that time but lots of efforts are being made now again. I don’t want to be comparative out here but those are facts.”

“The sad part is that when we don’t meet then the opposition will say we are not serious , when we meet and when we work they say we are too serious – so they will have to make up their mind what is it that they want us to do or what they expect,” he said.

Stating that the MDA government is committed to resolve the vexed border issue, the chief minister said, “We are moving in a manner that we take everybody on board and I do appreciate the comment that we should not be in a haste obviously we are not in a haste but we want to move towards a resolution and we are trying our best to work as hard as possible to find a resolution.”

Regarding the Congress’ stand that  the boundary dispute should be resolved based on historical facts, the chief minister said, “Yes, even historical facts will also be examined but we will see what is in the best interest of both the states and try to find an amicable solution.”

ADCs will be consulted

On the allegation that the government has sidelined the ADCs, Sangma said there is no question of leaving anybody behind.

“These committees were government committees so therefore it was restricted to only the government officials and government ministers and MLAs. However, once we get these reports…the ADCs which are a very important part of this discussion will have to be consulted and will be doing the needful. It is not just the ADCs…we feel that we need to ensure everybody is consulted,” he added.