Meghalaya and Assam will begin the second phase of talks to resolve their disputed border after Independence Day, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today.
Sangma was speaking after meeting a delegation of Raid Nongtung traditional leaders.
The headmen wanted an assurance that 18 disputed villages under Raid Nongtung in Block 2 should be transferred to Meghalaya.
Sangma told the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong Border Area Raid Nongtung that his government is committed to resolving the border dispute.
“That is the reason why we have moved forward in six of the 12 areas and we have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) after detailed consultations with the people and the people’s will is what has led to the resolution of the first six locations,” he said, seemingly ignoring the many residents and other stakeholders who were left aggrieved by the first phase as their land ended up going to Assam.
“We have to move forward and we have to allow the process to continue and we have to consult and engage with all the stakeholders that are involved,” the CM said.
Sangma met with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma in New Delhi on the sidelines of a NITI Aayog meeting over the weekend. There they agreed to start phase two “within a few days after Independence Day.” The exact date was not finalised but the meeting will be held in Guwahati.
He further informed that regional committees will be formed by the two states, as was the case in phase one, to take the process forward for the second phase of border talks.
The first phase, despite all the controversy it created, covered so-called less contentious areas of dispute. Sangma expects the second phase to be far more complicated.
“Even Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council is involved and hence we have to involve everybody in the discussion and, like we have done in the first phase similarly in the second phase also we will involve stakeholders, traditional heads, district councils and more importantly the public in general to be able to figure out how we could reach to a possible solution by carrying everybody along with us,” he stated.
Later, Synjuk president Blickstar Sohtun said that the organisation is confident that the border residents, who have “been facing various hardships and problems”, will benefit from this meeting.
Sohtun further informed that the delegation had also requested the Chief Minister to consider setting up a police camp at the border areas pending the resolving of the border dispute in Block 2.
