NEW DELHI: The Assam and Arunachal Pradesh Governments today signed an agreement here in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to resolve decades-long boundary dispute between the two North-Eastern states.
The agreement was signed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu.
Speaking on the occasion, the Home Minister said, “The signing of an agreement for the settlement of an inter-state boundary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is a very big achievement. Today, we have crossed the milestone for the establishment of a developed, peaceful and conflict-free North-East.”
Shah said, since 2018, the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “signed several accords, including the BRU, NLFT, Karbi Anglong and tribal peace pact, to establish peace and end violence in the North-East”. He insisted that because of these accords, peace was prevailing in the entire North-East and “so far more than 8,000 armed youth have shunned violence and joined the mainstream”.
The Assam Cabinet on Wednesday approved the recommendations given by 12 regional committees formed by the state government to resolve the boundary dispute with Arunachal Pradesh.
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share over 800 km boundary between them, officials said, adding that the two states decided to resolve the dispute in 123 villages.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the head of departments of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states responsible for prevention and elimination of emergency situations, Shah said India attached special importance to disaster risk reduction and it was ready to share its expertise and experience in this field for greater coordination and mutual trust.