Assam, Meghalaya CMs likely to meet Amit Shah over decades-old boundary dispute

New Delhi: Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya are likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Wednesday to apprise him of the efforts being made to resolve the decades-old boundary dispute.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his counterpart in Meghalaya Conrad Sangma are likely to meet Shah in afternoon.

It is learnt that an agreement has been reached between the two states regarding the boundary dispute following a report of the regional committee on border.

Both states have agreed to amicably resolve the disputes in at least six places along their boundary that includes 36 villages.

The states of Assam and Meghalaya have been working hard to reach a peaceful and amicable resolution of the decades-old boundary dispute at the earliest.

On January 20, 2020, both the Chief Ministers met the Union Home Minister in Delhi and apprised him of the reports of the regional committee on border dispute. They also said that the reports of the regional committee would be examined by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

After meeting Shah in January, Sarma tweeted that he and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma, "apprised Hon HM on the outcomes of discussions held between Assam & Meghalaya governments to resolve the border disputes amicably. We're grateful for his guidance".

The two states share an 885-km-long border. As of now, there are 12 points of dispute along their borders.

A major point of contention between Assam and Meghalaya is the district of Langpih in West Garo Hills bordering the Kamrup district of Assam.

Langpih was part of the Kamrup district during the British colonial period but post-Independence, it became part of the Garo Hills and Meghalaya.

Assam considers it to be part of the Mikir Hills in Assam.

Meghalaya has questioned Blocks I and II of the Mikir Hills -now Karbi Anglong region - being part of Assam. Meghalaya says these were parts of erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam under the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, a law that it challenged, leading to disputes.