The Centre has been trying to resolve the boundary issue between Assam and its neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland for a long time, leading to the signing of many agreements. Arunachal and Assam, which share an 804.1-km long border, signed the Namsai Declaration in 2022 in an effort to resolve the decades-old boundary discord between the two states.
Regional committees, covering 12 districts of Arunachal and Assam, were also constituted for joint verification and to make recommendations to the respective state governments for the settlement of the border issue as part of the agreement.
However, there have been many instances of border skirmishes, which have led to bloody conflicts between these states.
Recently, Assam forest department officials intruded into Jopakan and Hachengkan villages in Namtok circle of Changlang district for geotagging the boundary between Assam and Arunachal without prior notification. Such stray incidents continue to occur in the contentious border areas.
The incident occurred just two days before the meeting of the deputy commissioners of Changlang and Tinsukia, which aimed to resolve boundary disputes. Despite the intrusion, the meeting went ahead. Such meetings should be a regular affair, so that any discord related to the boundary conflicts can be directly addressed. However, it is equally necessary to involve citizens and form local-level committees, empowering them to resolve any boundary disputes.