Mizoram CM meets Himanta today in Delhi, discusses border dispute

In an effort to settle the border dispute between the two states, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma will meet in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Sarma had to go back to Assam, thus the meeting that was supposed to take place on Monday was postponed. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, was there when the two leaders met in New Delhi in November of last year and they decided to form panels of interested parties to mediate the conflict and start negotiations at the chief minister level.

A Mizoram home department official said the next round of ministerial talks between the two states scheduled to be held in Guwahati next month are yet to be finalised. He said the matter will be discussed when Mizoram home minister Lalchamliana, who is on leave due to health issues, returns.

The first round of negotiations to settle the conflict between Lalchamliana and Assam minister Atul Bora took place in August of last year, and the two parties finally met in Aizawl on August 9 of this year. They decided to keep the border peaceful and get together once more in Guwahati in October. There have been three virtual meetings between the two parties.

With Assam, Mizoram has a 164.6 km long shared border. The two states have been at odds over their shared boundary since colonial times.

The Centre intervened after police forces from the two states engaged in gunfire near the disputed boundary in July of last year, killing six police officers and an Assamese civilian.