Assam, Meghalaya sign historic agreement to end 50-year-old boundary dispute

New Delhi, March 29: The governments of Assam and Meghalaya signed a historic agreement in the national capital on Tuesday to resolve 50-year-old border disputes. The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Home Affairs by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the presence of the chief secretaries of both states, as well as other officials from both states and MHA officials, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed the agreement. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Assam and Meghalaya was inked two months after the Chief Ministers of both states submitted a draft resolution to Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration by the MHA. The administrations of Assam and Meghalaya have drafted a resolution to settle their border disputes in six of the 12 "areas of disagreement" along the 884-kilometre boundary. Also Read | Kerala: ‘Non-Hindu’ artist barred from performing in temple; Shashi Tharoor reacts According to the proposed recommendations for the 36.79 square km of land, Assam has agreed to keep 18.51 square kilometres and give the remaining 18.28 square kilometres to Meghalaya. The deal between Assam and Meghalaya is significant because the two states' boundary dispute has been ongoing for a long time. The long-standing land dispute was sparked in 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. The border issues came about as a result of different readings of the demarcation of boundaries in the initial agreement for the new state's creation. Also Read | Delhi Police oppose Sushil Kumar's bail, say witnesses 'terrified' -PTC News