Awaiting response from Assam on claims submitted on border: Mizo official

The Mizoram government on Thursday claimed that it is awaiting a response from its Assam counterpart on the claims submitted by the former in connection with the inter-state boundary dispute.

Mizoram had submitted its claims on the state boundary in February.

"As agreed in the parley held in November last year, we conducted a survey along the border and submitted our claims. It was decided that Assam should send a reply within April or May. We are yet to receive a reply from them," a Mizoram home department official said.

The date for the next round of border talks is yet to be decided, he said.

During the border talks held on November 17 last year, both states had decided that "Mizoram will furnish the list of villages, their areas, geospatial extent, ethnicity of the people and other relevant information within three months to support its claims", the official said.

It was also decided that the claims could be examined by setting up regional committees from both sides to arrive at an amicable resolution to the vexed border issues.

Mizoram shares a 164.6 km long border with Assam, and both states have a long-standing boundary dispute.

The dispute had taken an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire at the inter-state boundary, leading to the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.

More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizoram's Vairengte village.

The two states have held several rounds of talks since then and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.