Assam-Nagaland chief secretaries meet to defuse tension along border

GUWAHATI: Chief Secretaries of Assam and Nagaland today agreed to take all steps to defuse the tension and maintain peace in the area along the inter-state border and ensure that local disputes are dealt with speedily.

Assam Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla and his Nagaland counterpart Toshi Aier held a meeting here and discussed prevailing law and order situation along the inter-state border and ways for restoring peace and harmony.

In the meeting, they agreed that all steps would be taken to defuse the tension along the region.

The chief secretaries agreed that the local disputes should not be linked with the border-related issues between the two states currently under the consideration of the Supreme Court, an official statement said.

Principal Secretary Home and Political Department of Assam MGVK Bhanu briefed the meeting held in the secretariat about the prevailing law and order situation following the incident of November 13 in Uriam Ghat area in Golaghat District of the state.

In this incident, one person was killed and three others injured by miscreants/suspected militants while they were harvesting crops in the area. Nearly 200 persons were forced to seek shelter in relief camps, the statement said.

Revenue Commissioner and Secretary G D Tripathi informed about the identification of the border between the two states in light of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court in the matter.

Today's meeting was held in pursuance of the decision taken during the meeting of Union Home Minister Rajnath Minister with the Chief Ministers of both the States on October 27 last at New Delhi.

Both the sides have agreed to make all efforts for creation of a conducive atmosphere for restoration of harmonious relations and for the safe and early return of the displaced people to their respective villages, the release said.

The Nagaland Government was also requested for assistance to apprehend the culprits alleged to be responsible for the incident.

The two Chief Secretaries were accompanied by senior officials of Home, Political and Border Areas Departments of the respective states.

During the meeting, it was also decided by both the state administrations to defuse the current tense situation in the area and cooperate in curbing activities of militants/ miscreants.

Asserting such mischievous elements should not be allowed to create misunderstanding among the people living in border areas, the meeting agreed to intensify point-to-point contact of Border Magistrates, share information and strengthen the deployment of central forces, the release added.