Border talks set to be delayed
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The proposed talks over the long-pending boundary dispute with Assam is set to be delayed further with chief secretaries of both the states deciding to seek more time to prepare the modalities.
“Both of us will be seeking more time from the two Chief Ministers — Tarun Gogoi and Dr Mukul Sangma — in this connection,” Chief Secretary WMS Pariat told reporters here on Monday.
Pariat held a meeting with his Assam counterpart in Guwahati recently.
“We would write to both the chief ministers in the next few days,” he said.
He said the 45-day period, which expired on July 21, was too less for the task of fixing modalities which is “not only complicated but also difficult.”
“The issue has been pending for the past 40 years. I believe even the past leaders must have tried to solve the issue but it was not easy since there were claims and counter claims from both the sides over possession of the land,” Pariat said.
“However, this time I could see there is sense of sincerity and seriousness on the part of the Assam Government to solve this long-pending issue,” he added.
Earlier, a senior government official on condition of anonymity had indicated that the Government might buy more time to fix the modalities.
Meanwhile, the two chief ministers are likely to finalise the name of the judge to head the judicial inquiry into the May-14 Langpih firing incident in the next coming days, the Chief Secretary said.
“Assam Government has already prepared a list of judges from Gauhati High Court,” he added.
Source: The Shillong Times
