Mizoram State Boundary Committee Approves Approach Paper for Talks with Assam

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The Boundary Committee comprising all political parties and major civil society organizations was constituted by the state government after the border standoff in July last year.

The Mizoram State Boundary Committee on Friday unanimously approved an approach paper for the state’s approach in the upcoming border talks with Assam to be held in October. The committee held a meeting on Friday in Aizawl under the leadership of its chairman and deputy chief minister Tawanluia to review the border issue. During the meeting, representatives of political parties and NGOs expressed their desire to resolve the border dispute with neighboring Assam, the statement said.

It was also decided in the meeting to conduct joint verification of border areas claimed by both Mizoram and Assam with representatives of Assam. It also reviewed the joint statement signed by both Mizoram and Assam delegations during the border talks in Aizawl on 9 August.

The Boundary Committee comprising all political parties and major civil society organizations was constituted by the state government after the border standoff in July last year. Mizoram shares a 164.6 km long inter-state border with Assam. The border dispute between the two states is a long-standing issue, stemming from two colonial demarcations – 1875 and 1933. Mizoram recognized that 509 square miles of Inner Line Reserve Forest notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, a certain part of which now falls under Assam.

On the other hand, Assam claimed that the boundary is the constitutional boundary of the state as per the survey of the map of India in 1933. Some areas which are now under the occupation of Mizoram come under the demarcation of 1933. The border dispute worsened on July 26 last year when police forces from these two neighboring states opened fire on NH-306 near Vairengte, killing six Assam policemen and a civilian.

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