Assam, Mizoram chief ministers agree to resolve border dispute

Guwahati: Assam and Mizoram have agreed to make joint efforts to settle the long pending inter-state border dispute between the two states. Informing that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma had a meeting in Guwahati and discussed several bilateral issues including the border dispute, security sources said that Assam chief minister on Friday morning invited his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma, who is currently in Guwahati, over a meal and both leaders discussed the border issue.

In the meeting, Mr Lalduhoma and Mr Sarma agreed to make collective efforts to resolve the border dispute between the two states. Both leaders also agreed to maintain peace along the borders as long as the two neighbouring states hold border talks, security sources said. Mr Sarma also assured Mr Lalduhoma that he will send the minister in charge of border to Mizoram after the ongoing budget session of the Assam assembly.

Assam chief minister in his social media post wrote, “Bonding over breakfast! In my first one-to-one meeting with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Mizoram, Pu Lalduhoma after his emphatic victory in the Vidhan Sabha elections, I once again offered my heartiest congratulations. We engaged in various discussions to ensure



continued peace and progress between our two States.” The meeting was a strategic step towards resolving long-standing disputes and fostering cooperation.

The two states share a 164.6 km boundary, which has been a point of contention due to differing interpretations of colonial-era demarcations from 1875 and 1933. Three Mizoram districts – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit – share a border with Assam’s Cachar, Karmganj and Hailankandi districts. Mizoram claims that 509 square miles of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory. Assam, on the other hand, regarded the border shown in a map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary.

Vast areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under Assam. Similarly, a certain extent of the area, as per the 1933 demarcation, is now on the Mizoram side. There is no ground demarcation of boundaries between the two states. The border dispute between Mizoram and Assam had taken an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire at the inter-state boundary, leading to the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.