Assam, Arunachal CMs meet to end border row

Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart, Pema Khandu, held a decisive meeting here on Thursday to end the decades old inter-state border dispute between the two states. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share a 804.1-km border.
Khandu, in a tweet, described the CM-level meeting on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border as a “watershed moment in our collective resolve to address outstanding issues amicably.”
Sarma tweeted, “I am certain that the two states would soon reach an agreement that would take care of sensitivities & aspirations of all.”
They had last met in July and signed an agreement, ‘Namsai Declaration’, to seek a permanent settlement to the inter-state boundary dispute where it was agreed in principle to restrict the number of disputed villages to 86 from 123. To speed up identification and early resolution of disputed areas, the two states have formed 12 regional committees. The disputed areas are located in eight districts of Assam that share the inter-state border with 12 districts of Arunachal.
Sarma tweeted that Thursday’s meeting was a follow-up of the Namsai Declaration that “deliberated on the progress achieved by ‘regional committees’.”