ITANAGAR, 31 Oct: Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday said that the decades-old Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute “will be resolved once and for all, probably by the end of November.”
Khandu, who had chaired a meeting with a high-level delegation from Assam, comprising its Border Protection & Development Minister Atul Bora, several other ministers and MLAs, top officials, and others, told reporters after the meeting that “Today’s meeting can be termed as the penultimate one in the series of meetings held between the two states after the historic Namsai Declaration.”
“One more meeting is to be held between me and my Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma for a final agreement and permanent solution. Both of us are determined to resolve all our differences by the end of November,” he said.
Khandu informed that, following the Namsai Declaration, 12 committees, headed by cabinet ministers, were formed by both Assam and Arunachal.
“These committees jointly visited the disputed areas, took feedback from the people of both sides, and submitted their reports to their respective state governments,” he said.
“Today we discussed these reports district-wise, in depth. I am happy that all reports
are positive in effect and the committees of both the states have sincerely and jointly worked to find a permanent solution to this boundary issue,” he said.
Khandu added that “if there is a strong political will, no issue can remain unresolved for decades.”
He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “for their motivation and being the guiding force in ensuring smooth communication between the two states to resolve the boundary row out of court.”
“The love and cooperation of the people of Assam always inspire me to work with zeal and spirit to resolve the boundary issues. We are determined to resolve the issues for peace and harmony between the loving people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh,” Khandu said. (CM’s PR Cell)
