The Arunachal Pradesh government has announced that the long-standing inter-state boundary dispute with Assam will be taken up after the completion of the Assembly elections in the neighboring state.
The announcement follows allegations regarding unauthorized visits and assaults by officials from Assam in the disputed Changlang district of Arunachal.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday informed this in the Arunachal Assembly and assured that collaboration between local officials from both states will be prioritized to avert any escalation of tensions.
During Question Hour, BJP MLA Laisam Simai asked Khandu about the issue, to which the chief minister replied that he would instruct the Changlang deputy commissioner and superintendent of police to work closely with their counterparts in Assam’s Dibrugarh district to avoid any law-and-order disturbances in the contested areas.
Simai alleged that despite Arunachal Pradesh maintaining status quo in the disputed zone, officials from the neighbouring state had entered the area without authorisation on several occasions. According to him, such visits had taken place 17 times, and local residents were even assaulted during some of the incidents.
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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.
Although agreements like the Namsai Declaration were reached earlier, the boundary dispute still fuels tensions, as a number of villages remain caught between competing territorial claims, underscoring the long-standing complexity of the issue.
