Assam, Mizoram resolve to maintain status quo at border
A minister said on Friday that the governments of Mizoram and Assam were committed to maintaining peace and stability along the inter-state border.
The two northeastern states held a meeting on border issues via video conference on Friday. The meeting came amid allegations by Assam that Mizoram was constantly violating the status quo by building roads along the inter-state border.
Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana said the meeting agreed to maintain the status quo on disputed areas along the interstate border. He said the two sides also agreed to hold high-level talks to resolve the long-standing border dispute.
According to the Home Minister, the meeting asked the Assam government to propose a level of dialogue and also work out a modalities for the proposed dialogue.
Led by Lalchamliana , the virtual meeting was attended by key Mizoram officials, while the Assam team was led by Atal Bora, Minister for State Border Area Development. The Mizoram-Assam border dispute, which arose out of two colonial boundaries, is a serious issue that has been unresolved for decades.
While Mizoram accepted the 1875 notification as its original threshold, the Assam government stated that the delimitation made under the 1933 notification was its constitutional threshold.
On July 26 last year, police from two neighboring states exchanged fire on the National Highway 306 in the disputed area near the village of Varangte, killing six policemen and a citizen of Assam.
He said that during the meeting, Assam had alleged that Mizoram was violating the status quo by carrying out other projects like construction of roads and electrification of inter-state boundaries.