Mizoram CM Likely to Meet His Assam Counterpart This Month to Discuss Border Issues

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma is likely to meet his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma this month to discuss border issues between the two states, an official said here on Monday. A discussion between them is expected during the North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary session to be held in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong on January 19, he said.

“The two leaders will discuss the border issues to resolve the long-standing dispute between the two states,” the official said. The proposed NEC plenary session will be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Mizoram shares a 164.6 km-long border with Assam. The dispute had taken an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire along the inter-state boundary, leading to the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.

More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizoram’s Vairengte village. The two states have held several rounds of talks since then and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.

The border dispute between the two neighbouring states stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933. Mizoram claims that 509 square miles area of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls with its territory, while Assam, on the other hand, regarded the map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933, as its Constitutional boundary.

Vast areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under Assam. Similarly, a certain extent of the area, as per the 1933 demarcation, is now on the Mizoram side. There is no ground demarcation of boundaries between the two states, officials said.

Lalduhoma had told reporters last week that he discussed the border issues with Shah during his recent visit to Delhi. “I have discussed the border dispute between Mizoram and Assam with the union home minister in Delhi. We want disputes and violence not to occur any more in the future. We also agreed to resolve the issues at a political level,” the chief minister had said on January 6.

Earlier, he had said that the Mizoram government would set up a boundary committee involving all stakeholders to deal with any issue related to the border with neighbouring states.