Arunachal Pradesh and Assam deciding to form district–level committees for resolving boundary disputes is a significant development for the two states which has been at loggerheads for decades over interstate areas.The two States have about 1,200 disputed spots along their 804–km boundary. The disputes date back to the creation of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972.
Last year, both states had agreed the decades-old interstate boundary dispute issue which has kept the two neighbouring states unsettled will be resolved outside the legal domain which had raised a fair amount of hope. The fact that the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister have made a direct intervention shows that the Centre too is keen in having an early solution. Attending the Arunachal Statehood Day celebration at Yupia in February this year, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma raised expectations by asserting that Assam is ready to do anything it takes to resolve the vexed boundary disputes between Assam and Arunachal to maintain the age-old relations. He had stated that from April 2022, both governments would engage in a series of dialogues, and that most of the boundary disputes between the two states would be resolved within this year. The decision therefore to form district-level committees to resolve the boundary disputes is a much welcome move.
The district-level committees involving stakeholders will be formed in the border districts which will undertake joint surveys in the disputed areas to find a tangible solution in a time-bound manner. The solution would be based on historical perspective, ethnicity, contiguity, people’s will, and administrative convenience of both the States.
For people living in the interstate boundary and suffering from this decades-long vexed issue, this development has given a glimmer of hope. We hope that both governments are able to walk this tightrope and come out with an acceptable solution for the tens of thousands who find their lives disrupted by ever so often by sporadic incidents of aggression and discord.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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