AIZAWL: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma are likely to hold talks on the interstate border dispute in Delhi on Thursday.
The proposed negotiations to solve the border row have been reportedly initiated by Union home minister Amit Shah and Zoramthanga, who is at present visiting Delhi, sources from the national capital told TOI over the phone on Wednesday.
"Sarma would be leaving Assam for Delhi on Thursday," sources said, adding that the parleys are likely to be held on Thursday night and may be convened by Shah.
This would be the first-ever political-level talks to be held to find a long-lasting and amicable solution for the interstate border that has been simmering for over five decades.
Earlier, talks had been held at official levels, involving state chief secretaries and home secretaries, for a number of times. However, the two states had failed to reach a consensus.
In 1993, when the border tension had almost reached boiling point, chief secretaries of Mizoram and Assam held talks as initiated by the Union home ministry. The negotiations between the then Mizoram CM Lal Thanhawla and his Assam counterpart Hiteswar Saikia fizzled out as the former had insisted on holding the talks on a neutral ground and not in Guwahati.
When Zoramthanga and Sarma met in Shillong on June 24, the former invited his Assam counterpart to visit Aizawl, so that the two leaders could hold parleys to sort out the border issues, which was reportedly accepted by the latter.
