Mizoram, Assam to Hold Official-Level Border Talks on April 25: Minister

AIZAWL:  In a fresh bid to settle the age-old border dispute, Mizoram and Assam officials will hold official-level talks on April 25, Mizoram Home Minister K Sapdanga announced on Monday. The talks are to be held in Guwahati and are likely to pave the way for ministerial-level talks in the future.

Addressing the media, Sapdanga stated that the names of Mizoram's delegation members are yet to be confirmed. Nevertheless, state officials pointed out that the delegation is likely to be headed by Home Secretary Vanlalmawia. The success or failure of the April 25 meeting will decide the next phase of higher-level talks between the two northeastern states.

The Assam government previously offered to conduct the talks in the third week of March, but Mizoram had asked for the postponement because the state was in the middle of its assembly session and was also hosting Union Home Minister Amit Shah during that time.

The border conflict between the two states is based on historical variations regarding colonial-era boundary demarcations. Mizoram's three districts of Aizawl, Kolasib, and Mamit have a 164.6 km-long boundary with Assam's Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts. The long-standing problem largely stems from two opposing maps: one of 1875 during the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), and the second of 1933 prepared by the Survey of India.

Mizoram asserts that the 509 square miles of Inner Line Reserved Forest marked under the 1875 BEFR is its rightful boundary. On the other hand, Assam argues that the boundary marked by the 1933 map is its constitutional border. The lack of a well-marked boundary on the ground has resulted in overlapping claims to territory and sporadic flare-ups.

Tensions between the states escalated into a violent confrontation on July 26, 2021, in a fatal brawl that occurred in Mizoram's Vairengte village. The clash of police forces of both states cost seven lives and left several people injured, opening up the state's conflict before the nation and bringing its gravitas to the fore.

Ever since August 2021, the two states have had four rounds of ministerial-level talks, besides various official and virtual gatherings involving border district administrations. The latest meeting took place in Aizawl on August 9 last year.

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