Second round of Assam-Meghalaya border talks to resume on Aug 28

Can the solution to the Assam-Meghalaya border issue be expected before the New Year?

The crucial Assam-Meghalaya border talks are all set to resume, with the regional committees of both states all set to meet in Shillong on Monday.

Meghalaya cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh has said that they are hoping for a solution before the New Year as they are targeting to submit the final report by November.

“I expect that we would be able to resolve the issues on the table during the discussions between the two regional committees, and when we meet the people, it will be only to instill that sense of confidence and to build out trust among those two states,” Paul Lyngdoh said.

The meeting will see the Assam committee being led by Assam cabinet minister Chandramohan Patowary, while Paul Lyngdoh will be leading the Meghalaya committee. This will be followed by a visit to the disputed site.

Following this, a Chief Ministerial-level meeting is being planned so that the push can be given towards a final solution. The submission of the final report is expected by November. Paul Lyngdoh added.

Replying to a query on how will the government take up the case of villages falling under Meghalaya dominated by non-Khasis, Lyngdoh informed that those villages are small in numbers and will be taken up on the basis of contiguity.

Lyngdoh further added that their approach will be to first resolve matters relating to large clusters of villages, as few of the villages are dominated by non-Khasis and non-Garos, which are small in number. He added that they will look at the bigger picture and confine themselves to the problem-free areas first.

The Minister also informed that the government has proper documentation to establish claim on 54 villages in the Langpih Sector.

Responding to whether the willingness of people will play a part in resolving the border dispute, the minister said, “Yes, certainly. Those are not only on record with us but also with the government of Assam. In fact, it has been made very clear by our Assam counterparts that wherever people have been very empathic that they would like to identify themselves with Meghalaya, there will be no claim to such an area.

Reacting to the functioning of border outposts in resolving the border dispute, the minister said that they wish to resolve the matter in the next few months, and after a negotiation comes to a final close, he noted that the maps of the two states will be redrawn.

“The border post that we have identified might be somewhere in the middle of the areas that will then come to Meghalaya,” Lyngdoh added.

The two neighbouring states signed an MoU in Delhi in March last year to formally resolve interstate disputes in six areas of differences between the two states.

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