India / Assam, Mizoram agree to deploy central force along border after meeting with MHA: Report

New Delhi: During a meeting on Wednesday called by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amid the ongoing border tension between the two northeastern states, it was decided a neutral central force will be deployed along the disturbed Assam-Mizoram border, news agency PTI reported.

The decision was taken after a two-hour-long meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and attended by Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah and Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and their respective Mizoram counterparts Lalnunmawia Chuaungo and SBK Singh.

Both state governments have agreed to the deployment of a neutral Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) at the disturbed interstate border along the National Highway 306, a home ministry official said, news agency PTI reported.

The neutral force will be commanded by a senior officer of the CAPF.

Besides, in order to facilitate the functioning of the force, both the state governments will work out arrangements in coordination with the Union Home Ministry within a reasonable timeframe.

Following the meeting, Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said that their forces were being withdrawn from the disputed site.

“We are going to maintain peace,” he said.

The latest flashpoint in the decades-old border dispute between Assam and Mizoram led to violent clashes in which at least six people died and over 50 individuals were injured.

“The central government is concerned over the Assam-Mizoram border dispute which led to violence and deaths of six people. The objective of the meeting was to lower the tension, bring peace and possibly find a solution,” a home ministry official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The Director General of CRPF also attended the meeting as the personnel of the paramilitary force have been deployed in the Assam-Mizoram border areas where tension is high, the official said.