Underlining that peace has been restored along the shared border with Mizoram, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the decades-old border dispute between the states cannot be resolved overnight as it is a very complex issue.
Noting that the border disputes go back to the British era, Sarma said in an interview to PTI that Assam is in talks with other states as well and that the previous Congress governments had clearly defined boundaries while creating new states. Convicted for not making the determination.
Six Assam police personnel were killed in a violent clash between the police forces of Assam and Mizoram last month over a border dispute between the two states.
Sarma, who is on a four-day visit to the national capital from Saturday, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday.
“Mizoram is demanding Inner Line Forest on the basis of a notification issued by the British in 1870. The position of Assam is that there is a constitutional boundary and Mizoram is asking about the historical boundary. Assam is protecting its constitutional boundary BJP The leader insisted.
However, he said that till now the issue between the two states has been resolved.
“We have discussed the issue and resolved it for the time being. I am in touch with the Chief Minister of Mizoram and talk to him at least twice a day.
Sarma said there were problems related to “our borders for the past several decades” and last September, “trust and differences” between the two states increased, resulting in this violent incident, but the situation is now peaceful.
“The governments of Assam and Mizoram have issued a joint statement calling for peace and tranquility. As of now, the situation is normal, traffic is moving as usual towards Mizoram. I can say that as of now the situation is normal, peaceful and there is no tension.
Sarma blamed the Congress for the border dispute between the northeastern states as the party that ruled the country for decades did not demarcate the borders.
“… when Congress created a state (in the North-East), it did not demarcate the boundary and attached itself to the law that created the state.
“Congress never wanted a united North-East so it left us to fight for our borders. But it could have been done better at the time of creation of states. So over time the mistrust grew but now we are trying to resolve it,” said the Assam Chief Minister.
Sarma said that the northeastern states are different from each other, but they also have similarities, so to resolve disputes, “we need to look at our similarities”.
“We, the north-eastern states, are talking to each other and a long-term solution can be achieved by discussing the issue. Sometimes on the table, we will be able to solve it,” Sarma said.
Talking about the border dispute with Assam, he said that the government is also in talks with Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
“With the state of Meghalaya, we are progressing well. We have started talks with Arunachal Pradesh. At least now talking about state boundaries. By discussing amongst ourselves or at least with one or two states, we can have a solution,” he said.
Despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s attempt to resolve the long-standing border dispute between Assam and its neighbours, a forested stretch of border near Dholai village in Cachar on 26 July between Assam and Mizoram police There were clashes. .
At least six Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and over 50 injured in the incident, while an informal blockade later enforced by locals in Assam halted the movement of goods to other states. The two states share a border of 164.6 km between Cachar, Hailakandi and Assam. Karimganj Districts, and Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts of Mizoram
.