GUWAHATI | The Assam government is preparing to resume negotiations with Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya to seek permanent solutions to long-standing inter-state boundary disputes, Border Areas Development Minister Atul Bora said on Wednesday.

Bora said regional committees headed by ministers have been constituted to hold discussions with their counterparts in Arunachal Pradesh and work towards resolving outstanding boundary issues. Reacting to the recent firing incident involving alleged miscreants from Arunachal Pradesh and Assamese villagers, the minister described the incident as unfortunate and called on the Arunachal Pradesh government to take strong action against those responsible.

Bora said boundary-related tensions and alleged attempts at land encroachment have persisted since several neighbouring states were carved out of Assam. He said substantial progress had been made in resolving the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute following the Namsai Declaration, but disagreements remain in more than 52 villages.

According to the minister, regional committees from the two states are expected to begin discussions soon to address the remaining areas of contention. Assam-Nagaland dispute remains before the Supreme Court On the Assam-Nagaland bound ary dispute, Bora said Assam had approached the Supreme Court in 1998 and the case remains pending.

He said the pending litigation has made it difficult for the two governments to reach a comprehensive settlement through negotiations. However, discussions between Assam and Nagaland are continuing to maintain peace and stability along the border. The Chief Ministers of the two states have also held several rounds of meetings to address border-related concerns, he said.

On the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute, Bora said disagreements had been identified in 12 areas. Of these, six have already been settled, while negotiations are continuing over the remaining six. The minister expressed confidence that the outstanding issues with Meghalaya could also be resolved through continued dialogue.

Bora further said Union Home Minister Amit Shah was keen on resolving inter-state boundary disputes in the Northeast and that representatives of the Union Home Ministry had participated in several rounds of discussions between the states. The Assam government’s renewed push for negotiations comes amid continuing local tensions along some inter-state borders, with the state seeking negotiated settlements while pursuing measures to prevent fresh incidents and maintain peace in disputed areas.