Shillong, Jul 25:  Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the Chairman of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), on Sunday termed the meeting between the Chief Ministers of the North Eastern States with Union Home Minister Amit Shillong a “very fruitful”. 
“In yesterday’s meeting we discussed about various issues, right from drug trafficking, developmental issues, issues related to inter-state border dispute, cease fire treaty with different (militant) organisations,” he said. 
Asked if the state will be seeing any more cease fire with any militant outfits, including the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) in Meghalaya,  Sarma said, “the Home Minister was “very open to the issue”, and had requested that the “citizens should return” and the respective states government should take lots of initiative so that North East can finally see peace when India will be celebrating 75 years of Independence.”
“Shah’s message to the Chief Ministers was very clear and simple which is that North East should become an engine of growth,  North East  should contribute to the nation's development” and that there should not be any dispute among the North Eastern states,” the Assam Chief Minister said. 
On the boundary dispute and tensions with Mizoram and Nagaland, Sarma said that these issues needed to be discussed in order to resolve them. 
“But when from both ends there is high level of emotions then issues are hard to be resolved. The boundary issues need to be addressed realistically and there was need for “lot of give and take between two states”, and that the issue needed to be addressed at the ground level,” he pointed out. 
Sarma said that he would meet with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma in Guwahati on August 6 to take the discussions further, adding that involvement of the ground level was necessary to resolve the issue. 
 “If claims are justified and reasonable then the claims are to be considered and that decisions cannot be made on the past events which happened in the 18th or 19th century,” the Assam Chief Minister said. 

Asked if the Assam government has mooted the idea for a joint effort among states to curb drug smuggling in the region, Sarma said that lot of feedback has been received from Manipur and Nagaland and expressed hope that the “network of drug is collapsed and NE becomes a drug free” region, even as he pointed out that the issue of drug trafficking had to be addressed by all the North Eastern states collectively. 

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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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