Assam, Mizoram CMs to make joint efforts to resolve inter-state border issue

GUWAHATI — Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday held a meeting with his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma, an official said, adding both CMs agreed to make joint efforts to resolve the long-pending inter-state border issue.

Assam and Mizoram share a 164.6 km-long border.

Both CMs also discussed a wide range of developmental issues during the one-to-one meeting in Guwahati.

They agreed to undertake joint efforts to resolve the inter-state border dispute between the two states amicably and go forward on developmental aspects besides to maintain peace along the borders of the two northeastern states, an official said.

Sources close to Mizoram Chief Minister said that Sarma told him that Assam Minister in charge of border (Atul Bora) would visit Mizoram soon.

“Both Chief Ministers have mutually agreed to refrain from escalating tensions along the border during the negotiation process,” sources said.

Mizoram’s three districts — Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit — share a 164.6 km long inter-state border with southern Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.

As the border dispute between the two states is a long-standing issue, the worst-ever violence on the Assam-Mizoram border occurred on July 26, 2021 when the Assam and Mizoram Police exchanged fire in the disputed area near Vairengte village on National Highway 306, leaving six Assam Police personnel dead and many injured.

Mizoram claims that 509 square miles area of the reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory.

Assam, on the other hand, regarded the border shown on a map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its current boundary.