New Delhi: Assam and Nagaland have agreed to an "out of court" settlement of the vexed border disputes. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Nagaland counterpart Neiphiu Rio had a detailed discussion over the issue in New Delhi on Thursday evening.
Sources in the Home Ministry told ETV Bharat that Chief Minister Sarma took the initiative following directives from Home Minister Amit Shah for an "out-of-court settlement of the border issue."
Immediately after resolving the border conflicts with Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, Sarma met Rio at Assam House in the national capital and discussed the present situation of the border dispute.
In 1988, the Assam government has filed a case in the Supreme Court for resolving the border issue with Nagaland, and quite often incidents of border clashes keep occurring from along the Assam-Nagaland border.
"We had a fruitful discussion on settlement of the border dispute out of the court with support and cooperation of ethnic groups from both sides," Rio said. He said that along with the border, other development issues have also been discussed in the meeting.
"Because we have to work together, support one another, and how to go forward. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh signed an agreement on border disputes. Likewise, we are also discussing how we should settle our border dispute outside the court with the support of ethnic groups from both sides," said Rio.
He said that both the States have in-principle decided to go in for an MoU on oil exploration in the disputed areas along the interstate boundary so that oil can be extracted and royalties shared between the neighboring States. "Once it is formalized, there is a huge potential for exploration of oil inside Nagaland also and to move forward as the country needs oil in a big way," said Rio.
Assam Chief Minister has earlier told ETV Bharat that his government is actively working to resolve all border disputes with other States. Last year, Assam and Meghalaya settled six disputed border areas. Assam also shares its border with Mizoram which is recognized as a most volatile border. In 2021, six Assam police personnel and a civilian have died in a border clash between Assam and Mizoram.
