Guwahati, March 29: The Mizoram government has proposed to Assam to initiate official-level talks in mid-April to address the long-standing border dispute between the two neighboring states.
The border dispute between Assam and Mizoram has been an unresolved issue for years, with occasional flare-ups. Recently, a border clash was witnessed where police forces from both states exchanged fire.
Mizoram Home Secretary Vanlalmawia stated that a letter has been sent to Assam for the fourth time, proposing that official-level talks be held before ministerial-level discussions in Guwahati. He added that Mizoram is awaiting a response from Assam.
Vanlalmawia emphasized that these deliberations are intended to prepare and finalize the groundwork and modalities for the subsequent ministerial-level talks.
According to the home secretary, during the ministerial-level talks held in Aizawl on August 9 last year, it was agreed that official-level discussions should take place at least three times before the fifth round of ministerial-level talks.
Responding to previous letters, the Assam government had earlier proposed holding official-level talks in the third week of March. However, the Mizoram government declined due to the state assembly session and the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he said.
Three Mizoram districts—Aizawl, Kolasib, and Mamit—share a 164.6 km-long border with Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts.
The border dispute between the two states originates from two colonial-era demarcations. Mizoram claims that a 509-square-mile area of the Inner Line Reserved Forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory.
Assam, on the other hand, considers the border delineated in a 1933 Survey of India map as its constitutional boundary.
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