Assam Mizoram border talks: Assam & Mizoram officials to meet today to find amicable solution to decades-old row

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 9, 2022 | Dhupali Das

The Mizoram delegation, led by home minister Lalchamliana, will meet with a team led by Assam minister Atul Bora... 

Digital Desk: Top officials from Mizoram and Assam will meet on Tuesday in Aizwal for another round of discussions to settle the long-standing border conflict.

The Mizoram delegation, led by home minister Lalchamliana, will meet with a team led by Assam minister Atul Bora. The meetings would also include Lalchamliana's ministerial colleague, Lalruatkima, and Assam's minister, Ashok Singhal.

Following the talks, the two parties will address a press conference. They last met in person in August 2021, following a bloody border clash in July. In April, the two parties decided to take the negotiations to the next level after two rounds of virtual talks. Modalities for the new negotiations were set forth by Assam.

Assam and Mizoram share a 164.6-kilometer border that has been in dispute since demarcations in 1875 and 1933. While Assam has insisted on retaining the boundary set in 1933, Mizoram has insisted on the demarcation made under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation in 1875, which covers areas now within Assam.

At least six police officers and one civilian were killed, and over 60 people were injured, in a clash last July when police units from both states exchanged fire along the disputed border.

In New Delhi in November last year, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma, discussed the border problem and decided to establish committees to settle the conflict. The two decided to speak at the chief minister's level.