Itanagar, March 11 Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu informed the Assembly on Wednesday that the state government will address the alleged violation of the status quo along the inter-state border in Changlang district with the Assam government after the Assembly elections in the neighbouring state.
Responding to a question from BJP MLA Laisam Simai during Question Hour, Khandu said he would also direct the Changlang deputy commissioner and SP to coordinate with their counterparts in Assam's Dibrugarh district to prevent any escalation of law-and-order problems in the disputed areas.
Simai alleged that despite Arunachal Pradesh maintaining the status quo in the disputed area, officials from the neighbouring state had made unauthorized visits to the zone on 17 occasions and had even assaulted local residents.
Responding to a supplementary question from BJP MLA Wanglin Lowangdong regarding the unresolved boundary row in Tirap district despite the Namsai Declaration of July 15, 2022, the chief minister said that according to the report of the Survey of India, the dispute between Arunachal's Tirap district and Assam's Tinsukia district has already been settled.
"Even if there are any discrepancies, we can look for out-of-the-box solutions through discussion with Assam, but officially we cannot do anything," Khandu said.
Earlier, replying to Simai’s question, Inter-State Border Affairs Minister Mama Natung informed the House that five villages in Changlang district did not figure in the Namsai Declaration as the regional committee constituted for the district was kept in abeyance due to initial objections raised by Assam.
He said no disputed villages from Changlang district were reflected in the report of the local commission submitted in 2014, and consequently, no conclusive resolution has yet been reached regarding the Changlang–Tinsukia sector.
Natung further said that the Tarun Chatterjee Committee had recommended that the five villages fall under Assam, a finding that was also reported by the then deputy commissioner of Changlang.
He added that the villagers had approached the court over the matter, and the case remains sub judice, preventing both state governments from arriving at an amicable solution.
The Namsai Declaration, signed by the chief ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, marked a major step towards resolving the decades-old boundary dispute between the two states.
The agreement aimed to address disputes involving 123 villages along the inter-state boundary, which was later reduced to 86 villages following negotiations and joint verification.
Arunachal Pradesh, which became a Union Territory in 1972 and attained statehood in 1987, has maintained that several forested tracts in the plains traditionally belonged to hill tribal communities and were transferred to Assam earlier without consultation.
Following statehood, a tripartite committee recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh, but Assam contested the recommendation and the matter remained pending before the Supreme Court for a long period.