In a major milestone and in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya signed historic agreement for settlement of inter-state border dispute in New Delhi today.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalayan counterpart Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to resolve a decade-old boundary dispute between the two North-eastern sister states.
The MoU under which both the states agreed to resolve six out of 12 areas spread across around 39 sq km, was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister, Union Minister Rameswar Teli, MPs from Assam, including Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong here.
The latest development comes over a month after the two Chief Ministers met Shah in the national capital and submitted a report of their regional committee over the inter-state boundary issue.
This is another milestone in the fulfillment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous Northeast and a result of able guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Union Home Minister said today is a historic day for a dispute-free North East In a short span of time, 6 out of 12 issues have been settled between Assam and Meghalaya and about 70 percent of the border between the two States has become dispute-free.
"Today is a historic day for the North East. I congratulate both Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ji and Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma ji for resolving the 50-year-long dispute," Shah said.
PM Narendra Modi has made many efforts for the peace process, development, prosperity and promotion of cultural heritage of the North East, since he became the Prime Minister in 2014, which we have all seen During last three years, Government of India under leadership of Prime Minister has signed several agreements for ending extremism and lasting peace in the states of the Northeast.
“Looking at the journey from 2019 to 2022, we have seen many big achievements in establishing peace in the North East, NLFT agreement in August 2019, Bru-Reang agreement on 16th January 2020, Bodo agreement on 27th January 2020, Karbi- Anglong agreement on 4th September 2021 and today’s Assam-Meghalaya border agreement,” said political observers here.
Development of the Northeast is not possible unless disputes between States are resolved and armed groups surrender.
Efforts should be made in the year of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to realize the Prime Minister Modi’s dream of a peaceful and prosperous North East Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls the North East as Ashtalakshmi and with these efforts, Northeast will not only be a part of the national mainstream, but will also be the driving force in national development.
The analysts said that Modi government has taken several initiatives including a narcotics free, flood free and infiltrator free North East and Government of India and States of the North East are progressing in a time bound manner on all these fronts Strong political will shown by Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya, we will make North East dispute-free, after discussions with all States.
This agreement exemplifies cooperative federalism and will provide a roadmap for resolution of other border disputes between States.
Chief Minister of Assam, Hemant Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma expressed gratitude to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah for solving this decades long problem.
It has been the consistent approach of the Central Government that inter-State boundary issues can be resolved only with the cooperation of the State Governments concerned and that the Central Government acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the boundary issue in the spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding.
The Agreement will benefit people living in the area and ensure long lasting peace and boost development.
This interstate boundary settlement will usher in a new era of peace, harmony and progress in the state of Assam and Meghalaya, he observed. "We will make Northeast dispute-free. NE will become the driving force of development of India", Shah said.
Talking to reporters shortly after signing the agreement, Sangma said, "Today is a historic day. We have signed an agreement to resolve six out of the 12 locations.
"I am hopeful that in the coming time, we will reach a solution for the other six locations also. "Before signing the agreement, we took feedback from the public at grassroot level, as we felt that we would get the best solution from them," he claimed.
"There will always be people in the Opposition, who will speak against this. We have been able to reach this milestone, which has been pending for the past 50 years. We are hopeful to resolve the other six areas of differences," Sangma told UNI, responding to the disappointment expressed by the Opposition TMC over the matter.
Elated over the signing of the agreement, the Assam CM also expressed satisfaction over the MoU. "We have also prepared the roadmap to resolve the other six too in the coming time. Today, a message is being sent that inter-state boundary issues can be resolved," he added. Sarma, who is also the convenor of BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), said that the inter-state boundary dispute with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland will also be resolved soon.