Squabbling northeastern neighbours Assam and Mizoram made “goodwill gestures” towards each other on Monday, including dropping FIRs filed in connection with the border violence a week ago, as they prepared the ground for an August 5 meeting in Aizawl to take another crack at resolving their decades-old boundary dispute. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said he had deputed senior minister Atul Bora of AGP, who is known to share a rapport with Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, and new cabinet colleague Ashok Singhal to represent the state at the talks.
Mizoram announced the first conciliatory move, with Zoramthanga asking the police to drop the FIR against his Assam counterpart, six senior officials of the civil and police administration of the neighbouring state, and 200 unnamed cops allegedly involved in the border violence on July 26.
CMs agree to bury the hatchet
Six days after the flare-up on the border which saw six Assam police personnel being killed in firing by Mizoram Police, the chief ministers of the two states buried hostility on Sunday - which happened to be the International Friendship Day - following Union home minister Amit Shah’s intervention and agreed to sit down for talks to resolve the vexed border dispute once and for all.
Shah had telephonic conversations with Assam chief minister Sarma and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga separately. Subsequently, Zoramthanga, who is in quarantine after contracting Covid, called up Sarma before the two CMs went public on their peace moves. In another clear indication that hostilities are subsiding, the Mizoram chief secretary said the FIR against Sarma filed at Vairengte police station, which accused him of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, would be withdrawn as “Zoramthanga did not really approve of it”.
Stressing the need for resolving the border dispute, Sarma said: “If the Centre takes an initiative, we have no problem talking. The Assam government is ready to talk to the Mizoram government at any point of time and at any place, be it Guwahati, Aizwal or New Delhi. If the Mizoram CM wants us for discussion, we are always available. We do not like these frequent border skirmishes. We have come for development and these border tensions are a big deterrent,” he said, while emphasising on a final decision on boundary demarcation. The inter-state border demarcation is a central subject and both Assam and Mizoram are now looking up to New Delhi to find a permanent solution, which has been pending before Mizoram was carved out of Assam, first as a Union Territory in 1972 and then as a state in 1987.
Sarma’s statements came soon after Zoramthanga announced on Twitter: “As per telephonic discussion with the Union home minister and Assam chief minister, we agreed to resolve the Mizoram-Assam border issue amicably through meaningful dialogue. In the meantime, in order to prevent any possible escalation of the situation, I request the people of Mizoram to avoid posting sensitive messages and make judicious use of their social media platform,” the Mizoram CM added.
Squabbling northeastern neighbours Assam and Mizoram made “goodwill gestures” towards each other on Monday, including dropping FIRs filed in connection with the border violence a week ago, as they prepared the ground for an August 5 meeting in Aizawl to take another crack at resolving their decades-old boundary dispute. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said he had deputed senior minister Atul Bora of AGP, who is known to share a rapport with Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, and new cabinet colleague Ashok Singhal to represent the state at the talks.
Mizoram announced the first conciliatory move, with Zoramthanga asking the police to drop the FIR against his Assam counterpart, six senior officials of the civil and police administration of the neighbouring state, and 200 unnamed cops allegedly involved in the border violence on July 26.
CMs agree to bury the hatchet
Six days after the flare-up on the border which saw six Assam police personnel being killed in firing by Mizoram Police, the chief ministers of the two states buried hostility on Sunday - which happened to be the International Friendship Day - following Union home minister Amit Shah’s intervention and agreed to sit down for talks to resolve the vexed border dispute once and for all.
Shah had telephonic conversations with Assam chief minister Sarma and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga separately. Subsequently, Zoramthanga, who is in quarantine after contracting Covid, called up Sarma before the two CMs went public on their peace moves. In another clear indication that hostilities are subsiding, the Mizoram chief secretary said the FIR against Sarma filed at Vairengte police station, which accused him of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, would be withdrawn as “Zoramthanga did not really approve of it”.
Stressing the need for resolving the border dispute, Sarma said: “If the Centre takes an initiative, we have no problem talking. The Assam government is ready to talk to the Mizoram government at any point of time and at any place, be it Guwahati, Aizwal or New Delhi. If the Mizoram CM wants us for discussion, we are always available. We do not like these frequent border skirmishes. We have come for development and these border tensions are a big deterrent,” he said, while emphasising on a final decision on boundary demarcation. The inter-state border demarcation is a central subject and both Assam and Mizoram are now looking up to New Delhi to find a permanent solution, which has been pending before Mizoram was carved out of Assam, first as a Union Territory in 1972 and then as a state in 1987.
Sarma’s statements came soon after Zoramthanga announced on Twitter: “As per telephonic discussion with the Union home minister and Assam chief minister, we agreed to resolve the Mizoram-Assam border issue amicably through meaningful dialogue. In the meantime, in order to prevent any possible escalation of the situation, I request the people of Mizoram to avoid posting sensitive messages and make judicious use of their social media platform,” the Mizoram CM added.
