Following the request of both Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah, both states agreed to settle their border dispute through talks in 2021.
In order to address a long-running border dispute along the boundaries of both northeastern states, the governments of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday in the nation’s capital.
In India’s and the Northeast’s history, we are living in a historic period. Since 1972, there has been a continual boundary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. According to Shah, the ambition of a peaceful, developed, and conflict-free northeast, held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has reached a significant milestone.
He stated that since 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, multiple peace treaties have been struck with rebel groups in the northeast, as well as agreements to end border disputes between states in the region.
The border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is 804 kilometres long. Though there was no controversy at first, allegations of one state’s citizens encroaching on the land of another have led to tensions and violence throughout the years. Since 1989, a case has been pending at the Supreme Court on the subject. Following the request of both Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah, both states agreed to settle their border dispute through talks in 2021.
According to the agreement reached on Thursday, issues in 71 of the 123 communities have been settled amicably. One village from Arunachal Pradesh will be included in Assam, ten villages will remain in Assam, and 60 villages from Assam will be included in Arunachal Pradesh.
The boundaries of 49 of the remaining 52 villages will be finalised in the next six months by the regional committees of both states, while residents of three villages located inside an Indian Air Force (IAF) bombing range on the border between both states will be rehabilitated. Apart from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam has boundary issues with Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram, all of which were formed from it.