KOHIMA, March 19 - Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang has alleged the border issue between Nagaland and Assam is continuing because Assam Government does not want to resolve the matter outside the court.
�Government of Nagaland has always been for peaceful and amicable settlement of the issue outside the court but it has been pending since the Assam Government filed a suit in the Supreme Court in 1989 for settlement of the matter,� Zeliang said while replying to MLA Imkong L Imchen�s suggestion in the Assembly on Friday that the State Government should focus on resolving the border issue with Assam.
Zeliang said the SC had appointed two senior advocates as mediators, which worked for two years to know the ground reality, but the Assam Government did not cooperate with their movements.
Subsequently, the SC advised the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to explore the possibility of resolving the issue between the two States outside the court, he told the Assembly.
Zeliang said that during the meeting attended by the CMs of both States he had conveyed to the Union Home Ministry the willingness of Nagaland Government to resolve the matter outside the court, but Assam Government stressed that the matter would be decided in the court.
The Chief Minister also told the House that dialogue between Peace Committees of the two States was on, while people-to-people contact was being maintained to resolve the matter outside the court. � PTI