62 villages along Assam border claimed by Mizoram in its territory

Aizawl: At least 62 villages located within the Inner Line Protected Forest along the Assam border come under its jurisdiction, Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana said on Friday.

For years, Mizoram has been claiming that the 509 sq mi (1,318 sq km) area of ​​Inner Line Reserve Forest under the 1875 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) is its actual boundary.
Assam, on the other hand, claims that the boundary as per the 1933 Survey of India map is the constitutional boundary.

Three districts of Mizoram – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mammit – share a 164.6 km long inter-state border with three districts of Assam – Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj.
Mizoram submitted its claim to the Assam government in February, Lalchamaliana said. We submitted our claim to Assam in February. We are waiting for their response,” the home minister told PTI.
He said that the next round of border talks with Assam is yet to be decided.

Mizoram and Assam have held 3 rounds of ministerial-level talks to resolve the long-pending inter-state border dispute.
Apart from this, the two neighboring states have also held virtual meetings on several occasions.

The dispute took an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire on the inter-state border, resulting in the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.
More than 60 people were also injured in the violent encounter in the disputed area near Vairengte village in Mizoram.

Following the incident, the two neighboring states began high-level delegation talks from August 2021 to resolve the worsening border dispute.
At the last border talks held in Guwahati in November 2022, the two delegations had decided that Mizoram would submit within three months the villages, their areas, geo-spatial limits, and ethnicity of the people and other relevant information to support its claim. will provide a list of It can be reviewed by forming regional committees on both sides to arrive at a peaceful solution to the disputed border issue.
In January, the Mizoram government formed a study group and submitted its claim the following month.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma also met twice in New Delhi in November 2021 and September to find an amicable solution to the border dispute.