Amit Shah ended the 50-year-old border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya

The governments of Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday signed a historic agreement in the national capital Delhi to settle their 50-year-old border dispute. The agreement was signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Home Ministry's office.

Agreed on 6 out of 12

The Chief Ministers of Meghalaya and Assam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Guwahati on January 29 to resolve the border dispute at six places Tarabari, Gijang, Hakim, Boklapada, Khanapara-Pilangkata and Ratchera in the first phase. After this, it was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs on 31 January.

On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed the agreement in the presence of Chief Secretaries of both the states as well as other officials of these states and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

What was the result of the agreement?

The governments of Assam and Meghalaya came out with a draft resolution to resolve their border disputes in six of the 12 "zones of difference" along the 884-km border. As per the proposed recommendations for 36.79 sq km of land, Assam will keep 18.51 sq km and give the remaining 18.28 sq km to Meghalaya.

What did Himanta Biswa Sarma say about the agreement?

After the historic agreement, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "This is a historic day for us. After this MoU, we aim to solve the problem of the remaining disputed sites in the next 6-7 months. We will bring the Northeast region to the country." Will work towards making it an engine of growth." He said, "The Union Home Ministry also requested to resolve the border disputes between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. I had a meeting with the AP CM where we made a road map to settle the 122 disputed points. Mizoram and Nagaland CM K. Preliminary discussions have started with him."

Meghalaya CM thanks Amit Shah

Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said, "First of all I want to thank Home Minister Amit Shah for directing us to resolve the border disputes in the northeastern states. Today the first phase of resolution has been done. This is Assam CM Himanta It was possible only because of Biswa Sarma." "I would also like to thank all the members of the committee and the officials of both the states. We will try to resolve further differences between our states at the earliest," he said.

What did Amit Shah say?

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Today the 50-year-old pending border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya has been resolved. 6 out of 12 points of dispute have been resolved, which covers about 70% of the border. The remaining 6 points have been resolved." Will be resolved as soon as possible." He said, "Since 2014, Modi Ji has made many efforts for the development of the Northeast region. Today, I congratulate the CM of Assam and the CM of Meghalaya and their teams on signing the agreement to resolve their border dispute "

What is the 50-year-old bloody controversy?

The border dispute has led to several violent incidents in the past, with one such major incident erupting in 2010. Four people were killed in police firing in Langpih, one of the 12 disputed areas.

The agreement between Assam and Meghalaya is important as the border dispute between the two states has been pending for a very long time. Notably, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972 and challenged the Assam Reorganization Act, 1971, leading to a dispute over 12 areas in different parts of the 884.9-km-long common border.