Finally, it seems like the decades old Assam-Arunachal boundary issue will be resolved outside the ambit of the Supreme Court of India. On Friday, in a truly historic move towards a permanent settlement of the decades-old interstate boundary disputes, Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma signed a declaration in Namsai in this regard. The two CMs agreed in principle to restrict the number of disputed villages to 86 from 123. The two sides agreed to restrict or minimise the boundary disputes between the two states in respect of 123 villages placed before the Local Commission by Arunachal in 2007.
Even though the matter is currently being heard in the SC, the two governments are making efforts to resolve it out of court. Even though it is the early stage, the effort to bring down the disputed villages from earlier 123 to 86 is a good beginning. Both the CMs also made it clear that by 15 September next, more consensus will be evolved. Chief Ministers Khandu and Sarma deserve to be appreciated for making efforts to resolve the boundary disputes. The people of both the states living along the interstate boundary have suffered a lot due to the disputes. The people of Arunachal in particular have suffered worst at the hands of the Assam police and forest departments. The development works along the interstate boundary are constantly disrupted by Assam’s officials. This is why the majority of the foothill areas continue to remain backward. Hopefully, the boundary dispute between the two states is resolved at the earliest. The Namsai Declaration has given a ray of hope.