<span style="color: #222222;">Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the State Government is moving towards a peaceful solution with its neighbouring states on border issues to create unity in northeastern states and termed the 'Namchai Declaration' as a historic one. <br />''<br />'' Addressing media persons, Chief Minister Sarma informed that yesterday he has signed the 'Namchai Declaration' with his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu to end the decades-old border dispute between the two states at Namchai in Arunachal Pradesh. He added that the two leaders agreed to restrict the number of contested villages to 86 instead of 123 and based on the present boundary, both the states will try to resolve the rest of the issues by September 15, 2022.<br />''<br />''Both the States constituted 12 Regional Committees each covering the 12 districts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for joint verification of 123 villages and thereafter make recommendations to respective state governments keeping in view the historical perspective, administrative convenience, contiguity and people's will to delineate the interstate boundary between States.<br />''<br />''Earlier the two leaders had met on January 24, and again on April 20 during which it was decided that all border issues between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will be confined to those raised before the Local Commission in 2007.<br />''<br />''In yesterday's meeting, both Mr. Sarma and Mr. Khandu agreed in principle with regard to 37 disputed villages. While Arunachal Pradesh will retain the 28 villages within its constitutional boundary, the state has withdrawn its claim over three villages in Assam.<br />''<br />''Six other villages which could not be located on the Assam side would also remain with the frontier state if they exist in Arunachal Pradesh, the agreement stated. These regional committees would submit their first tranche of the report on the areas or any other areas where consensus has arrived, before September 15.<br />''<br />''Assam has border issues with Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram.</span><br />