The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), a minor constituent of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, will continue to press the state government for a resumption in the border negotiations with Assam, which have been stuck for several months now.
The first phase resolved the dispute in six areas of difference but six more constitute the second phase and these areas are expected to be more difficult to resolve. Delay after delay has pushed the second phase work back and, even though Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma assured the HSPDP that talks will resume after the Autumn session of the Assembly, there has been no development as yet.
HSPDP president KP Pangniang said, “Since the matter is still [unresolved], we keep reminding the government to take up this matter at the earliest and, hopefully the government will act.”
Pangniang is a member of the regional committee formed by the Meghalaya government for the disputed areas in West Khasi Hills. However, the amount of work they can do is limited since both state governments need to resume talks in order for there to be further progress, he said.
