Assam delegation to visit Mizoram to iron out border dispute

A five-member delegation of the Assam government will visit Mizoram on August 9-10 to discuss the border dispute with the neighbouring state.

“Delegation of the Assam government will be headed by Assam Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora and he will be accompanied by state Housing and Urban Minister Ashok Singhal and three other officials, “GD Tripathi, Commissioner & Secretary of Assam Border Protection & Development Department told ANI.

The delegation will discuss with representatives of the Mizoram government the solution to the decades-old boundary dispute between the two north-eastern states.

GD Tripathi further said that both the states will discuss border issues so as to maintain peace in the region.

On the other hand, Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana will lead the Mizoram government team.

In August last year, the representatives of both states held talks in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl and they agreed to maintain peace and resolve the inter-state boundary dispute through dialogue.

Assam shares a 164.6 km long boundary with Mizoram and many conflicts have taken place in the last few years.

Last year on July 26, six Assam policemen and one civilian were killed in a fierce gun battle between the two states and then onwards, tensions heightened between Mizoram and Assam over the boundary dispute. At least 50 people were injured in the incident and a total of six companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had been deployed at the site.

However, the two states in a joint statement agreed to take forward the Centre’s initiative of letting neutral forces patrol the disputed areas of the inter-state border for maintaining peace.