In a major breakthrough in the Assam-Nagaland border dispute, chief secretaries of both states on Saturday, 31 July, signed an agreement to de-escalate forces from two disputed locations on the 512.1 km boundary they share.
The agreements were signed following a meeting between Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua and his Nagaland counterpart J Alam in the presence of Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu and Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton.
According to the agreement, both sides agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the areas around Ao Senden village and Vikuto village, as they are known in Nagaland, and Jankhona Nala and Nagajankha in Assam.
Speaking to Twitter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the agreement is a historic step in the relations and that “Assam is committed to ensuring peace along all its borders.”
Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton said that the signing of agreement for simultaneous withdrawal of security personnel was decided after interaction with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 24-25 July.
Assam, which shares borders with six other northeastern states, Nagaland (512.1 km), Arunachal Pradesh (804.1 km), Manipur (204.1 km), Mizoram (164.6 km), Tripura (46.3 km) and Meghalaya (884.9 km), has boundary disputes with at least four northeastern states – Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya besides Mizoram.
(With inputs from IANS)
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