MHA calls assembly to finalise Assam-Meghalaya border pact on March 29; CMs requested to be current

By PTI

SHILLONG: The Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) has fastened March 29 to finalise the border settlement signed between Assam and Meghalaya in January to settle the dispute in six of the 12 areas of distinction, an official stated on Friday.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Okay Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, together with senior officers of the 2 North-eastern neighbours, had been requested to be within the nationwide capital for the assembly.

“We have received a formal communication from the MHA about the meeting on finalising the border agreement on March 29 in New Delhi. The CMs and border committee officials of both states have been asked to be prepared for the tripartite meeting,” an official of the Meghalaya Chief Minister’s Office right here advised PTI.

The assembly was earlier scheduled to be held on March 27 nevertheless it was postponed by two days.

The chief ministers of Meghalaya and Assam signed a memorandum of understanding at Guwahati on January 29 to resolve the boundary dispute in six places – Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillangkata and Ratacherra, within the first part. It was then despatched to the MHA for examination.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 and it had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, resulting in disputes associated to 12 areas in numerous components of the shared 884.9 km lengthy border.

The boundary between the 2 states has witnessed flare-ups a number of occasions. In one such incident in 2010, 4 individuals had been killed in police firing at Langpih, one of many 12 areas of distinction.