Assam, Meghalaya CM meet to discuss Langpih

Guwahati, Jun 11 (UNI) As the border row between Assam and Meghalaya over Langpih got murkier, its chief ministers Tarun Gogoi and Dr Donkupar Roy today met at Mr Gogoi's office to hammer out an amicable solution.

Dr Roy was accompanied by his deputy chief minister Hopingstone Lyndoh, who represents the disputed area in Meghalaya Assembly, and other senior ministers and officials.

The Assam chief minister was also flanked by his senior cabinet colleagues, including Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman and Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma, who had visited Langpih recently.

The two neighbouring states had been engaged in a bitter dispute over its boundaries, with Langpih, about 100 km from Guwahati, becoming the focal point.

Assam claims it to be a part of its Kamrup (Rural) district and had gone ahead with a foundation stone-laying ceremony of a health care centre and road development package despite warnings by Meghalaya.

Meghalaya, on the other hand, had written to the Union Home Secretary as well as Mr Gogoi to put pressure on Assam to forsake any claim over Langpih.

Dr Roy had proposed to meet Mr Gogoi at Dispur to evolve a consensus on the Langpih issue, even as other boundary disputes between the two states are pending before the border dispute settlement committee.

The people of Langpih, who are themselves not sure of their statehood, now vote in elections of both the states.

UNI SG KK RN1845