Shillong, April 6: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday announced that the second phase of boundary talks between Assam and Meghalaya for resolving the remaining six areas of difference will start in June-July.
“We hope to start discussion for the other six (areas of difference) also sometime around June and July,” Sarma told reporters.
Under Phase 1, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to end the interstate boundary dispute in 6 of the 12 areas of difference was signed by Meghalaya and Assam in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 29, 2022 at New Delhi.
He said that now the Survey of India has already started working on the six areas which have been resolved between the two states.
“According to our MoU they (Survey of India) will put border pillar and thereafter the entire agreement will be formalized,” Sarma said.
‘Border agreement will not be revisited’
On the opposition’s demand to revisit the border agreement, the Assam Chief Minister however said the two states should not reopen the issue.
“Now that agreement has (been) sealed and signed, there is a demand from Assam opposition also to revisit but I have answered in the Assembly that after all these are lands belonging to India and as a brother and a sister, we have signed an agreement and we have come to a closure so far as that six sites are concerned so we should not reopen the issue,” he maintained.
Unhappy border residents and opposition
On questions of border residents being unhappy with the decision of the two states, Sarma said, “You cannot have happy out of every agreement… only thing (is) that country should be happy. Always there will be individuals who will be unhappy but nation should be happy that should be our motto.”
Whether the opposition is politicizing the issue, the Assam CM however refused to comment anything on the opposition party in Meghalaya and said, “Because this is the duty of the Meghalaya chief minister to handle any congratulations or criticisms but so far as Assam is concerned we have replied all the criticism in Assembly and by and large Assam civil societies are backing the government completely.”
Second phase to be tough
Meanwhile, Sarma admitted that the second phase of border talks will be very tough. “That second phase is most complicated and most contested areas as it has Langpih, Block I & II,” he said.
Stating that a goodwill has been created between Assam and Meghalaya, Sarma said, “Now at least both the governments and citizens of Assam and Meghalaya are not talking in terms of conflict… they are talking in terms of resolution of conflict so banking on whatever we have in the first phase will start dialogue for the second phase and I have confidence that at some point of time we will have resolution on the six also. But how and when it will end, it is difficult to predict right now,” the Assam CM concluded.
