Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu told the Assembly on Wednesday that his government plans to raise concerns with Assam over alleged breaches of the status quo along the inter-state boundary in Changlang district after Assam’s Assembly elections.
During Question Hour, BJP MLA Laisam Simai asked Khandu about the issue, and the chief minister said 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 claimed that although Arunachal Pradesh has been maintaining the agreed status quo, Assam officials had entered the disputed zone without permission 17 times and had even reportedly harassed local residents.
When BJP MLA Wanglin Lowangdong asked a follow-up about the ongoing boundary disagreement in Tirap district, despite the Namsai Declaration of July 15, 2022, Khandu said that according to the Survey of India, the dispute between Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh and Tinsukia district in Assam has been officially resolved.
He added that if minor discrepancies remain, the states could explore creative solutions through dialogue, but no unilateral action could be taken by Arunachal Pradesh.
Earlier, responding to Simai, Inter-State Border Affairs Minister Mama Natung told the Assembly that five villages in Changlang district were not included in the Namsai Declaration because the regional committee for the district had been put on hold following Assam’s initial objections.
Natung explained that no villages from Changlang were listed in the 2014 local commission report, meaning the Changlang–Tinsukia sector still lacks a final resolution.
He noted that the Tarun Chatterjee Committee had recommended these five villages be placed under Assam, a conclusion also reported by the then deputy commissioner of Changlang.
The minister added that the affected villagers had approached the courts, and the case remains sub judice, preventing either state from settling the matter amicably.
The Namsai Declaration, signed by the chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, was considered a significant step toward resolving the long-standing boundary disputes between the two states.
It initially aimed to settle disagreements over 123 villages along the shared border, which was later reduced to 86 after joint inspections and negotiations.