Dispute over 800 km of Assam-Arunachal boundary resolved
On Thursday, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh signed an agreement to settle the long-pending disputes along their over 800 km border. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu signed the agreement in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
After signing the deal, Shah said that they all witnessed a historic moment in the northeast by resolving the border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, pending for decades.
He said that the report of the Local Commission on this dispute kept circling for decades but has now been accepted by both states and Thursday’s agreement would prove to be a milestone in the direction of realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a developed peaceful and conflict-free northeast.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, the Union Home Secretary, and senior officials from the Centre and both states were also present on occasion.
Shah said that since 2018, the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, has signed several accords including for the Reang refugee settlement in Tripura, and several to end violence in the northeast.
He said that due to these peace agreements, more than 8,000 armed militants have shunned violence and joined the mainstream. Compared to 2014, there has been a 67 percent reduction in incidents of violence, a 60 percent reduction in the number of deaths of security forces, and an 83 percent reduction in the number of civilian deaths in the northeast, which is a big achievement of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister.
He added that the Modi government has withdrawn AFSPA from many places in the northeast.
Around 70 percent of police stations in Assam, 15 police stations in 6 districts in Manipur, all but 3 districts in Arunachal Pradesh, 7 districts in Nagaland, and the entire Tripura and Meghalaya are now free from Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Shah said that due to the efforts of the Modi government, all-around development is visible in the entire northeast today and this entire region is on the path of progress.
Thursday’s agreement between the two states would end the dispute relating to 123 villages along the border, keeping in view the historical perspective, demographic profile, administrative convenience, proximity to the border, and aspirations of the residents. Under the agreement, both the state governments have agreed that this agreement would be final with regard to these 123 disputed villages and neither state would make any new claim related to these areas or villages in the future.
After the agreement, a detailed survey would be carried out by the Survey of India in presence of representatives of both state governments to determine their boundaries.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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