ITANAGAR, 4 Mar: The recommendation of the high-powered ministerial committee (HPMC) on the Arunachal-Assam interstate boundary was unanimously finalised by the stakeholders during the HPMC’s final meeting on the matter, here on Friday.
The meeting, which was chaired by Home Minister Bamang Felix, was attended by representatives of all political parties, representatives of the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum, student leaders, and the deputy commissioners of the 12 districts sharing boundaries with Assam.
The HPMC’s recommendation was drawn following extensive ground exercises conducted by the DCs of the 12 districts sharing boundaries with Assam, during which all disputed boundaries were visited and reviewed in consultation with political leaders, student leaders, NGOs and public of the areas.
Friday’s meeting discussed the documents submitted by the DCs, and later unanimously finalised the recommendation for the state government.
Felix lauded the DCs for “successfully undertaking the extensive and rigorous exercise of verifying the state boundary according to the current ground reality, and the authorities at the State Remote Sensing Application Centre, Itanagar for their undertakings in drawing boundary map for the recommendation.”
He also expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders for their support to the HPMC in drawing out its recommendation, and called for “further such united support in the interest of the state.”
However, Felix clarified that the HPMC’s recommendation is not the final solution to the vexed interstate boundary issue “but will only act as a basis on which the state government will have discussions with its Assam counterpart for a permanent solution.”
The minister expressed optimism that “the hard work put in successfully by all concerned will be pivotal in achieving a permanent solution to the vexed interstate boundary issue.”
The HPMC was constituted by the state government on 15 July, 2021, with Felix as its chairman.