On Thursday (April 20), a 51-year-old border dispute between the North-Eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was resolved through the signing of a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two states in Delhi.
The Chief Ministers of both States, Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam) and Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) signed the MoU in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is an MP from Arunachal.
Under this MoU, the dispute over the 804 km long border between the two states has been resolved. The discussions were held on 8 border areas of Assam and 12 of Arunachal Pradesh. 12 regional committees, each headed by a cabinet minister, were formed for the discussions.
Among the 123 villages under dispute, the two states have arrived at a final mutual understanding concerning 71 villages under the MoU. Of these 71 villages, one village from Arunachal Pradesh will be included in Assam while 60 villages from Assam will be transferred to Arunachal Pradesh. 10 villages, which are currently part of Assam, will continue to remain the territory of the State.
From the remaining 52 villages, the boundary of the remaining 49 villages will be finalised within the following 6 months by the regional committees, after studies done by the Survey of India. Both states have agreed to maintain the status quo in these areas until a final settlement is reached. 3 villages fall within the bombing range of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and will require rehabilitation of the residents.
The MoU also made it clear that no new claim over any territory can be made by either State in the future and that the agreement is ‘full and final.’ Under the agreement, there will be better communication between the two states over border issues. Moreover, joint surveys will be done to resolve any disputes that may arise in the future.
While speaking about the matter, Amit Shah said, “We are witness to a historic moment today. The Local Commission report of 1972 remained disputed at various levels, sometimes at the level of the government, sometimes in the Supreme Court.”
#WATCH | Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments sign an agreement for the settlement of an inter-state boundary dispute in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi pic.twitter.com/Fkg0RNw7Bx
— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023
He added, “By accepting the report, the two states have ended the dispute over the 800 km of boundary…This is a huge achievement. I believe the work that should have been done immediately after Independence is being done now.”
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The signing of an MoU between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh today to settle an inter-state boundary dispute will prove to be a milestone. This will bring peace and development to the Northeast region.”
#WATCH | The signing of an MoU between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh today to settle an inter-state boundary dispute will prove to be a milestone. This will bring peace and development to the Northeast region: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, in Delhi pic.twitter.com/EAgpXuP6rP
— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that various factors were taken into consideration while deciding which state will get the individual disputed villages. The prime consideration was the demography of the villages. Moreover, the distance from the district headquarters and administrative convenience were also considered. Several public hearings were conducted at the disputed places to obtain the opinion of the people.
He said, “The long-standing border issue between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has been resolved by commemorating 75 years of Independence. The Home Minister had instructed us to discuss the issue and the Assam government held several meetings thereafter. The signing of a MoU between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh today to settle an inter-state boundary dispute will prove to be a milestone. This will bring peace and development to the Northeast region.”
CM Sarma said that the agreement was reached with a sisterly give-and-take approach, with the disputed states going to both states. He further added that the Arunachal Pradesh govt had rights to a large stretch of disputed land in Jorhat town in Assam, and the Arunachal govt accepted the Assam government’s request to hand over that land to Assam.
“We have arrived at a mutual understanding concerning 123 villages under the instructions of Amit Shah. This will bring great peace to the Northeastern region,” the Assam CM further said.
Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu tweeted, “This momentous occasion will ensure sustained, lasting peace and spur our shared growth and overall prosperity in North East.” He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister for being the guiding force in the historic border resolution.
Grateful to Hon Assam CM Shri @himantabiswa Ji for his exceptional leadership and cooperation. We met on several occasions, exchanged ideas, deliberated together to ensure the talks were on track.
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) April 20, 2023
I thank and appreciate the Regional Committees for having worked very hard,… pic.twitter.com/koFiAy7ayc
The Background of the border dispute
Arunachal Pradesh was carved out of ‘undivided Assam’ in 1972 and was declared a Union Territory. Soon after, it claimed that forest tracks in the plains, which belonged to tribal communities, were unilaterally handed over to Assam.
Arunachal Pradesh was granted Statehood in 1987. Thereafter, a tripartite committee was formed to look into the border dispute. It recommended the transfer of certain territories, held by Assam, to Arunachal Pradesh.
The matter was challenged before the Supreme Court in 1989 by the then Government of Assam. The border dispute and allegations of land encroachment led to occasional flare-ups and incidents of violence in the 1990s.
In 2007, Arunachal Pradesh reportedly lay claim over 123 villages, located between its 12 districts and 8 districts of Assam, before a Local Commission appointed by the Supreme Court.
Despite negotiations, no consensus was reached between the two States. Prodded by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the governments of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh decided to settle the matter outside of court, through mutual discussions, in 2021.
Formal talks began between the two sides in January 2022. In April of that year, it was decided to form 12 regional committees to conduct surveys in disputed areas.
The committees were tasked to find solutions while taking several factors such as ethnicity, contiguity, historical perspective, people’s will and administrative convenience in mind.
Along with Hon Arunachal Pradesh CM Shri @PemaKhanduBJP ji, we've decided to restrict the 'disputed villages' to 86 instead of 123. Based on our present boundary, we'll try to resolve the rest by 15 Sept 2022.
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 15, 2022
This is a milestone in the history of our friendship & brotherhood. pic.twitter.com/n3aWvPviYX
In July 2022, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh signed the ‘Namsai Declaration’ and resolved the dispute over 37 villages. Thus, the two governments were able to bring down the number of disputed villages from 123 to 86.
It must be mentioned that Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share the longest border (804 km) in the North-East. Earlier in March 2022, Assam and Meghalaya also signed a historic pact and ended a 51-year-old border dispute. Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that MoUs with Nagaland and Mizoram would also be signed shortly to settle the border disputes.
The Assam CM said that when he had met Amit Shah before taking oath as CM, the home minister had told him that the 75th year of independence is the best time to settle all border disputes in the northeast. Accordingly, Assam started talking to all the states about the issue, and the Assam-Meghalaya boundary agreement was the first result.
