Arunachal stakeholders’ committee finalizes views on Assam boundary row

Itanagar: The recommendation of the High-Powered Ministerial Committee (HPMC) on Arunachal-Assam interstate boundary was unanimously finalized by the stakeholders in the committee’s final meeting on Friday. 

The meeting convened under the chairmanship of Home Minister Bamang Felix at the state banquet hall here was attended by representatives of all the political parties of the state, the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF), student leaders and deputy commissioners of 12 districts sharing boundaries with Assam.

The HPMC’s recommendation was drawn following extensive ground exercises conducted by the deputy commissioners of 12 districts sharing boundaries with Assam during which all disputed boundaries were physically visited and reviewed in consultation with political leaders, student leaders, NGOs, public, etc., of the area.

The house present in the meeting also had an exhaustive discussion and deliberation on the documents submitted by the deputy commissioners concerned and later unanimously finalized for recommendation to the state government.

Felix in his remark lauded all 12 deputy commissioners for successfully undertaking the extensive and rigorous exercise of verifying the state boundary according to the current ground reality, and the authorities at the State Remote Sensing Application Centre, Itanagar for their undertakings in drawing boundary maps for the recommendation.

The committee chairman also extended his gratitude to all stakeholders for their support to the HPMC in drawing out its recommendation and called for further such united support in the interest of the state.

He, in the meantime, clarified that the HPMC’s recommendation is not the final solution to the vexed interstate boundary issue but will only act as a basis on which the state government will have discussions with its Assam counterpart for a permanent solution.

Meanwhile, stating that with the recommendation they have only reached halfway to permanently resolve the Arunachal-Assam boundary issue, the minister expressed optimism that the hard work put in successfully by all concerned will be pivotal in achieving a permanent solution to the vexed interstate boundary issue.

The HPMC on Arunachal-Assam interstate boundary was constituted by the state government under the leadership of chief minister Pema Khandu on July 15, 2021.

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