The Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments have, in a welcome sign of understanding and reconciliation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to resolve the festering border dispute between them. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu signed the MoU in Delhi last week. It was in the making for many months and is the result of an initiative taken by Himanta Biswa Sarma, with support from the Union Home Ministry. The MoU will hopefully put an end to the territorial dispute between the two states. The dispute has a long history, starting with the formation of Arunachal Pradesh as a Union Territory in 1972 and continuing after it became a separate state in 1987. The dispute has soured relations between the two states and caused much inconvenience to people living in the disputed areas who were not sure to which state they belonged.
The MoU has sought to address the dispute over 123 border villages spread across the 800 km boundary between the two states. It has settled the dispute over 71 of these villages. Of the 71 villages, one village from Arunachal Pradesh will be included in Assam, 10 villages will remain in Assam, and 60 villages from Assam will be included in Arunachal. It was stated that the principles that guided the negotiations and the eventual decision were administrative convenience, the ethnicity of the residents living in the disputed villages and the will of the people. It is not known whether there was any objective test to decide the wishes of the people. But an agreement which is acceptable to both governments is not likely to be opposed by the people. There are also no reports of any unhappiness.
The governments should try to reach an agreement about the other disputed villages also. The Assam-Arunachal Pradesh agreement should also pave the way for the settlement of the other boundary disputes in the region. Assam has boundary disputes with all the states that were carved out of it. They have not only created bad blood but also led to violence. There was a clash between the police forces of Assam and Mizoram in 2021 near their disputed boundary in which six Assam policemen were killed. Though Assam and Meghalaya have signed a border deal, it has not completely ended the dispute between the two. The border demarcation between the states in the region was haphazard and without consideration for factors like the spread of population and economic interests. Hopefully, all such disputes will be settled through negotiations. There is an opportunity to achieve this in the Northeast now because a single party – the BJP -- controls all governments in the region.