Mizoram, Assam to hold border talks on Friday

Aizawl, Aug 8 (PTI) Mizoram and Assam will hold ministerial-level talks on Friday to address a longstanding border dispute between the two northeastern states, an official said.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the state guest house in Aizawl at 4 pm, they added.

The Mizoram delegation will be led by Home Minister K. Sapdanga, while Assam’s team will be headed by Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora, officials said.

This will be the first border discussion between both the states since the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), led by Chief Minister Lalduhoma, came to power in December last year.

Following the talks, Bora and his team will have a courtesy meeting with Lalduhoma before departing for Guwahati on Saturday.

Sapdanga has expressed optimism that the talks could lead to a positive resolution of the border dispute. He noted that both states have adhered to the status quo on disputed areas since border discussions began in August 2021.

Despite an agreement in February for talks between Lalduhoma and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, scheduling conflicts due to the Lok Sabha elections delayed the discussions.

The border dispute involves three Mizoram districts—Aizawl, Kolasib, and Mamit—which share a 164.6 km boundary with Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts.

The dispute originates from two colonial-era demarcations – the 1875 notification under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) and the 1933 Survey of India map.

Mizoram claims that 509 square-miles within the inner line reserved forest, as per the 1875 notification, falls within its territory, while Assam regards the 1933 map as its constitutional boundary. Consequently, some areas within the reserved forest now fall under Assam, and parts of the 1933 demarcation are on the Mizoram side.

The conflict escalated in July 2021 when police forces from both states exchanged gunfire at the border, resulting in the deaths of six Assam policemen and a civilian, along with injuries to over 60 people.

Several rounds of talks, including three ministerial meetings since August 2021, have been held, with agreements to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.

In the most recent talks in Guwahati in November 2022, Mizoram was tasked with providing details on villages, areas, geo-spatial extent, and ethnicity within three months to support its claim. Mizoram has submitted information identifying 62 villages in the disputed area as being within its territory or within the extent of the inner line reserved forest.