Assam and Meghalaya to ink border pact on March 27 in Delhi

Assam and Meghalaya will sign an agreement to resolve the dispute in six border areas of both states in New Delhi on March 27, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Monday.

“The signing of this agreement and the final discussion with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will take place within this month. The tentative date which has come to me is March 27,” Sangma said during the budget session in the state assembly.

“Therefore, all cabinet colleagues and officials who are involved in this will be going to Delhi to mark this very important occasion and I am hopeful March 27 will be a historic day and we will be able to come to a final conclusion and sign the agreement on the six locations,” he added.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya on January 29 and was submitted to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 31, for examination and consideration of the MHA.

Stating that the boundary dispute has been pending for a very long time, Sangma said the NDA government has been decisive and clear that the issue has to be resolved.

“There is no reason why the people in the border area have to continue suffering the way they have been, always living in fear, that somebody from Assam will come in, from the administration, from the police and pick them up, some firing will take place,” he said adding “Therefore, the government has decided that we will move forward and that is the reason why today we are on the verge of signing this agreement for the first six locations.”