A minister said on Friday that the Mizoram and Assam governments have resolved to maintain peace and status quo along the inter-state border.
On Friday, both the states of the Northeast held a meeting on border issues through video conferencing. The meeting came amid allegations from Assam that Mizoram was continuously violating the status quo by constructing roads along the inter-state border.
Mizoram Home Minister Lalchmalliana said that in the meeting it was agreed to maintain the status quo on the disputed areas along the inter-state border. He said the two sides have also agreed to hold high-level talks to resolve the long-standing border dispute.
Read also: 20 people killed in 10 years in inter-state border dispute: Assam minister
According to the Home Minister, in the meeting, the Assam government was asked to propose the level of talks and work out the modalities for the proposed talks.
He said that during the meeting, Assam alleged that Mizoram was violating the status quo by constructing roads and executing other projects like electrification along the inter-state border.
He said the Mizoram team assured that it will investigate the matter and look into it.
Led by Lalchmalliana, the virtual meeting was attended by important officials from Mizoram, while the Assam team was led by State Border Area Development Minister Atul Bora. The Mizoram-Assam border dispute, which stemmed from two colonial demarcations, is a complex issue that has remained unresolved for decades.
While Mizoram accepted the 1875 notification as its de facto limit, the Assam government, on the other hand, maintained that the demarcations made under the 1933 notification were its constitutional limits.
On July 26 last year, police forces from two neighboring states had opened fire in the disputed area near Vairengte village on National Highway 306, killing six policemen, and one civilian from Assam.
Around 60 people were also injured in the violent clashes. A ministerial meeting was held in Aizawl in August during which both the states agreed to maintain peace and resolve the border dispute amicably through talks.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma had met on the border issue in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi in November last year and involved all stakeholders to resolve the border dispute through dialogue. They had agreed to form their own panels. ,
For this, both the leaders had also agreed to the Chief Minister level talks from time to time.
Three Mizoram districts- Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit share a 164.6 km long inter-state border with Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.
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