Shillong, May 14: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday said discussions with Assam on the second phase of the inter-State boundary settlement process are expected to resume soon, as the new Government in Assam was sworn in just two days back.
Speaking to mediapersons in Shillong, Sangma said he would shortly communicate with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take forward the next round of talks on the long-pending border dispute between the two neighbouring States.
“The New Government has just sworn-in in Assam and therefore, let a few days pass, I will communicate with the Chief Minister of Assam and we will definitely take the discussion forward,” Sangma said.
The development assumes significance as Meghalaya and Assam are preparing to resume negotiations on the remaining six unresolved areas of difference along the inter-State boundary after the first phase of the settlement process concluded in 2022.
With the formation of the new government in Assam, the chairpersons of the Regional Committees on the Assam side are also expected to undergo changes before formal discussions recommence.
In March 2022, in what was described as a historic breakthrough in the five-decade-old boundary dispute, Meghalaya and Assam signed an agreement resolving differences in six of the 12 disputed sectors shared between the two States. The agreement was signed by Chief Ministers Conrad K. Sangma and Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The first phase of the agreement covered the areas of Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilangkata and Ratacherra.
The second phase of talks is expected to focus on the six remaining areas of difference — Langpih, Borduar, Nongwah-Mawtamur, Deshdoomreah, Block I and Block II, and Psiar-Khanduli — all of which have witnessed periodic tensions and competing territorial claims over the years.
