A historic agreement between the two Northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was signed to finally settle the long-standing dispute over the borders of the two states.
This agreement was the result of years of negotiations and discussions between the state governments, civil society and other stakeholders. It is expected that this agreement would pave the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East.
The agreement was signed by the Dr. Himanta Biswas Sharma and Pema Khandu, Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, in the presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah, in New Delhi on Thursday, 20 April, 2023. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Union Home Secretary and senior officials from the Center and both the States were also present on the occasion.
This was part of another important step of the Modi government to establish complete peace in the Northeast.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said that today we all have witnessed a historic moment in the Northeast and India with over 700-kilometre long border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, pending since decades being completely resolved.
He said that the report of the Local Commission on this dispute kept circling around for decades, which has now been accepted by both the states.
Shah said that today’s agreement will prove to be a milestone in the direction of realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a developed, peaceful and conflict-free Northeast.
He said that since 2018, the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has signed several accords including BRU, NLFT, Karbi Anglong, tribal peace accord to establish peace and end violence in the Northeast.
He continued that as a result of these agreements, peace has started prevailing in the entire North East and so far more than 8000 armed youth have shunned violence and joined the mainstream.
Shah said that compared to 2014, there has been a 67 percent reduction in incidents of violence, 60 percent reduction in the number of deaths of security forces and 83 percent reduction in the number of civilian deaths in the North East, which is a big achievement of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
According to Shah, the Modi government has withdrawn AFSPA from many places in the Northeast. 70% police stations in Assam, 15 police stations in 6 districts in Manipur, all but 3 districts in Arunachal Pradesh, 7 districts in Nagaland, and entire Tripura and Meghalaya are now free from AFSPA.
Union Home Minister said that due to the efforts of the Modi government, all-round development is visible in the entire Northeast today and this entire region is on the path of progress.
He said that Prime Minister Modi himself has visited this region more than 50 times and has always promoted its language, culture, literature, costumes and food. He said that by witnessing the local Bihu dance during Bihu festival in Assam recently, which created a world record, Prime Minister Modi made it world famous.
Congratulating the people of both the states on behalf of the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Shah said that today’s agreement will prove to be auspicious for both the states and the northeast and will open new avenues of development.
Shah appreciated the efforts of Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu in resolving this long pending border dispute. He said that both the states formed a regional committee to settle the dispute, talked to the common people and worked to include everyone in this effort.
“Today’s agreement between the two states will end the dispute relating to 123 villages along the border has been done keeping in view the historical perspective, demographic profile, administrative convenience, proximity to the border and the aspirations of the residents,” he said.
Under the agreement, both the state governments have agreed that this agreement will be final with regards to these 123 disputed villages and neither of the States will make any new claim related to any area or village in future.
After the agreement, a detailed survey will be carried out by the Survey of India in the presence of representatives of both the state governments to determine the boundaries of both the states.
The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has always been acting as a facilitator for amicable settlement of inter-state border disputes with the active cooperation of the concerned State Governments.
“With the efforts of the Modi government, today’s important agreement between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is a successful example of cooperative federalism and will provide a roadmap for resolving border disputes between other states,” he added. (PIB)
