Namsai Declaration: The Assam & Arunachal Pradesh Government signed the Namsai Declaration today in an effort to end the longstanding boundary dispute.

Highlights:

• The Chief Ministers of the two North-eastern neighbours met at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh and signed the agreement in the presence of several cabinet ministers of both states.

• Namsai is the headquarter of the Namsai district in southern Arunachal Pradesh.

Key Points:       

• The Namsai Declaration has been signed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu for minimizing the inter-State boundary dispute involving 123 villages.
• A list of these villages had been placed before a local commission by Arunachal Pradesh on December 26, 2007.
• According to the declaration, all border issues between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will be confined to those raised before the local commission in 2007.
• Both the Chief Ministers have decided to restrict the ‘disputed villages’ to 86 instead of 123.
• Based on the present boundary, they will try to resolve the rest by September 15, 2022.

Assam and Arunachal Pradesh Dispute:

• Allegations of residents of one state encroaching land on the other have led to disputes and violence.
• The two states share an 804.1 km-long border.
• The grievance of Arunachal Pradesh which was made a union territory in 1972 is that several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities were unilaterally transferred to Assam.
• Present-day Arunachal Pradesh attained Statehood in February 1987.
• After Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood, a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal.
• However, Assam contested this and the matter is in the Supreme Court.

About Assam:

• Assam is a state in northeastern India known for its wildlife, archeological sites and tea plantations.
• It is situated south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys.
• It is encircled by verdant hills.
• Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk.
• Its capital is Dispur.
• The current Governor and the Chief Minister of Assam are Professor Jagdish Mukhi and Himanta Biswas Sarma respectively.

About Arunachal Pradesh:

• Arunachal Pradesh is the northeasternmost state of India.
• It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south.
• It shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and a disputed border with China in the north at the McMahon Line.
• It is the largest of the Seven Sister States of Northeast India.
• It was part of British India from 1913-14 and was formally included in India when the McMohan Line was established as the border between India and Tibet in 1938. China continues to consider Arunachal Pradesh a part of Tibet, which it occupied in 1951.
• It became a full-fledged State on 20th February 1987.