Assam delegation to soon visit Mizoram for border talks: Official

The Assam team is likely to visit Aizawl next week.

An Assam delegation led by Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora will soon visit Mizoram for talks over the inter-state boundary dispute, a Mizoram Home Department official said on Tuesday.

Six policemen and a civilian from Assam had died and around 60 others were injured when law enforcers from the two states exchanged fire on NH 306 near Vairengte town along the disputed inter-state boundary on July 26 last year.

Bora has recently conversed with Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana over the phone and said a delegation from Assam will visit Mizoram after the presidential election to discuss the vexed issue.

''The proposed meeting with Assam representatives is expected to centre around the preparation of modalities for higher-level talks to resolve the long-standing dispute. ''The Assam team is likely to visit Aizawl next week. Bora is expected to be accompanied by other ministers and officials of the neighbouring state,'' the official told PTI on condition of anonymity. A virtual meeting was held in April between Mizoram and Assam sides, headed by Lalchamliana and Bora respectively, and it was decided that higher-level talks will be held to find an amicable solution to the issue.

In the meeting, it was decided that the Assam side would prepare the modalities for the proposed higher-level talks.

The official said Assam is yet to submit modalities for the talks.

''It appears that Assam is desirous of adopting the modalities of Assam-Meghalaya border talks, which is not acceptable for Mizoram as Assam's border dispute with our state is different from that with Meghalaya,'' the official added.

Mizoram shares a 164.6-km inter-state boundary with Assam, which has seen several flareups in the last few years.

The decades-old boundary dispute between Mizoram and Assam mainly stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933.