EMN
New Delhi, August
NAGALAND Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in New Delhi to find an amicable solution to the border dispute between the two states.
“It was a cordial meeting with the Assam Chief Minister. We have decided that as far as the border between Nagaland and Assam is concerned, we should maintain status quo, maintain peace, and keep our NGOs active to have interaction,” Rio told reporters after the meeting.The Nagaland CM said both the states decided to administrative officers to observe the ground realties, so that nobody violates the peaceful atmosphere along the inter-state border. Since formation of Nagaland in 1963, Assam has been alleging that Nagaland had encroached 59,000 hectares of its land.
But, Nagaland had always refuted the allegation, and has been claiming that it had never encroached Assam’s land. Media reports in Assam have also been claiming that Nagaland residents had encroached 4,000 hectares in the 5,927-hectare Geleky reserve forest in Sivasagar district.
“Since it is a disputed area, so, there is some kind of tension. As we have strong political will, we are confident of resolving it, and civil society also desires for peaceful atmosphere,” Rio said. The Assam border areas minister Siddique Ahmed recently claimed that Nagaland had also allegedly encroached large areas in Jorhat and Golaghat districts of Upper Assam.
