Shillong, July 9: The chief ministerial level border talks will be held very soon as there is an urgency to complete the settlement before the 75th year of India’s independence next year.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma told reporters on Friday during the weekly press briefing that very soon the CMs of both Assam and Meghalaya will be meeting.
His response was after questions were raised following the recent meeting of cabinet minister AL Hek and Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The chief minister said unofficially, a lot of work is being done to find an amicable solution to the long pending issue, which has been affecting the people of the state especially those residing along the border.
He also claimed that almost 80 percent of his time was spent on discussion about the border issues.
Regarding the wish of the Centre for resolving boundary dispute among the Northeastern states before the 75th year of India’s Independence, Sangma said that he feels it is very fair on the part of the Centre to make such an appeal since even after 75 years, states are still fighting for their borders.
However, the solution is not very simple as t is complicated, the chief minister said.
“For 50 years, we could not find it but with the new leadership coming in Assam and with the kind of political environment we have in the NE specially the different understanding we have at the CM’s level, we are able to discuss this matter in a much more detail manner compared to what it was before,” he said.
Regarding the suggestion for adopting a give and take policy, the chief minister said, “Let us not go into the details of this, allow us to do more homework.”
