Assam-Arunachal Pradesh to sign historic border MoU today. What to expect

The MoU would be signed this evening in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah

FILE PIC OF ASSAM & ARUNACHAL CMs after sigining of the Namsai Declaration

History will be created today. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, two neighbouring states of Northeast India, would sign an MoU aimed at resolving the border dispute between the two states that has been nagging both the states for over seven decades or 70 years now.

In a big decision on Wednesday, the Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, approved the recommendations given by 12 Regional Committees formed by the state government to resolve the vexed border issue with Arunachal Pradesh, paving the way for the signing of the MoU.

The MoU would be signed this evening in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Chief Ministers of both the states – Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu would be flying in to the national capital today.

The border issue pertains to 8 districts in Assam and 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Assam-Arunahcal Border Dispute: The Story So Far –

The border issue dates back to 1873, when the then-British government introduced the inner-line regulation, creating an imaginary boundary between the plains and hills areas north of Assam. The Inner-line regulation is still in place, which is why people from outside Arunachal Pradesh has to take permits before entering the state.
Historically, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have border disputes at around 1,200 points along their 804 km boundary.
Efforts have been on since 1951 to address the border issue and find a permanent solution. In 1951, a sub-committee headed by the first Assam chief minister, Gopinath Bordoloi, made some recommendations in relation to the administration of NEFA (under Assam then) and submitted a report. Based on this report, around 3,648 sq km of the plain area of Balipara and Sadiya foothills was transferred from Arunachal Pradesh (then NEFA) to Assam’s then Darrang and Lakhimpur districts.
Arunachal Pradesh was not happy with this demarcation because they said it was arbitrary and done without consulting people of the state, while Assam considered this to be a legal and constitutional one.

Though it is only in 1972, Arunachal Pradesh was made a Union Territory after it was carved out of Assam and it was in 1987 that Arunachal Pradesh got statehood, Assam got its statehood in 1950. Therefore, the border issue cropped up in 1951.
In April 1979, a high-powered tripartite committee was constituted to outline the boundary on the basis of Survey of India maps, as well as discussions with both sides.
In 1983-84, out of the 800 km, 489 km, mostly on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, was demarcated, but the process hit a roadblock as Arunachal Pradesh did not accept the recommendations. Assam discarded Arunachal Pradesh’s claims and moved the Supreme Court in 1989, alleging “encroachments” by Arunachal Pradesh.
The Supreme Court appointed a local boundary commission in 2006 to resolve the border dispute.
Efforts were on till September 2014, when the local commission submitted its report suggesting Arunachal Pradesh get back some of the territories that were transferred in 1951.
But the deadlock continued till in 2022 the Assam government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Arunachal Pradesh government led by Pema Khandu decided to set up 12 Regional Committees, each covering the 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh and the counterpart districts of Assam, for joint verification of 123 disputed areas and thereafter make recommendations to respective state governments.
Finally, in July 2022 a major breakthrough was achieved when on July 15, 2022, the Namsai Declaration was signed by the two CMs. The declaration was signed at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh following the third round of meetings on the issue between chief minister Pema Khandu and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma.
As per the Namsai Declaration, 28 of the 123 disputed villages “which are within the constitutional boundary of Arunachal Pradesh” shall remain with Arunachal Pradesh. Following the withdrawal of claims by Arunachal Pradesh, three villages will remain with Assam. Six more villages, which “couldn’t be located on the Assam side”, will remain with Arunachal Pradesh if they are found to be present on the state’s side, the declaration stated.

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