Shillong, Apr 17: The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) is expecting that progress will be made on the Assam-Meghalaya border negotiations once the results come in from Assam’s general election.
The first phase of the border dispute was resolved in March 2022 but four years on seemingly little progress has been made on the harder-to-fix second phase areas, with the Assam side frequently delaying the process.
The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on May 4, with the new government to take the reins after that.
Speaking to reporters today, HSPDP president KP Pangniang said that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had recently indicated that discussions would pick up once the electoral process in Assam concludes.
He also informed that the HSPDP, a minor party in the ruling coalition, had earlier submitted a reminder to the state government urging it to continue with the next phase of negotiations. The party, he said, remains keen on ensuring that the dialogue process does not lose momentum.
Pangniang further stated that the party plans to meet the CM again in the coming days to push for the resumption of talks on the unresolved sectors of the boundary dispute.
Meanwhile, Pangniang also informed that the HSPDP has yet to decide whether it will contest the Shillong Lok Sabha by-election. The HSPDP has actually not fielded a candidate of its own for Parliament in more than a decade, so the question is probably a moot one.
At any rate, the HSPDP president said that the decision on the by-election will be taken by the party’s central executive committee.
On the hot button topic of Lumpongdeng Island and the controversial decision to hand over the site to a private company for a tourist resort, Pangniang said that the state government’s decision to refrain from constructing permanent buildings on the island is a positive development.
