Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expects that the next phase of talks with Meghalaya to resolve other disputed border areas will take place in June-July.
Sarma said this while attending a passing out parade at North Eastern Police Academy in Umsaw, Ri-Bhoi, today.
The two states have signed an agreement to settle the dispute in six less complicated areas but the second phase is likely to be more challenging as it will involve talks on Block 1, Block 2 and Langpih.
Like in Meghalaya, the Assam government has had to put up with criticism over the first phase agreement, which was signed on March 29. The Survey of India will now clearly demarcate the border and this then has to be ratified by Parliament.
“There has been a demand from the Assam opposition to revisit the deal but I have answered in the Assembly that, after all, the land belongs to India and as brothers and sisters we have signed an agreement and we have come to a conclusion so far as those six areas are concerned and we should not reopen the issue,” Sarma stated. “There will be individuals who will be unhappy but the nation should be happy – that should be our motive”.
He claimed that public opinion in Assam backs the deal and he declined to comment on opposition to the agreement in Meghalaya, saying that this is a matter for his counterpart Conrad Sangma to respond to.
Although he admitted that the next phase will be more complicated, Sarma is counting on the "good will created between the states through the first phase of negotiations. Both the governments and citizens are not talking in terms of conflict but talking in terms of resolution of conflict," he said.
