July 31, 2021: Assam and Nagaland have agreed to withdraw their respective police outposts from their long-disputed border in a bid to defuse any possible tension between the two forces.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma agreed to withdraw their police forces and maintain a peaceful atmosphere on the border, Nagaland’s Deputy CM Y Patton said at a meeting on Friday.

Patton said that the Nagaland police will withdraw from their outpost as and when its Assam counterpart does so.

Reportedly, Nagaland protested after the Assam Police allegedly tried to set up a camp close to Vikuto village under Tzurangkong range in Mokokchung district of Nagaland on June 29. The area is near Mariani in Assam''s Jorhat district.

Patton, who holds the Home Department, conducted an aerial survey of the border during the day. The Nagaland deputy CM's statement came days after a violent clash between police forces of Assam and Mizoram in which seven people - six policemen and a civilian - were killed and over 50 people were injured.

In the past agreements between the two North-eastern states, both police forces had agreed to withdraw from the border areas, but Assam did not do it and has in fact increased its strength while Nagaland withdrew its forces, claimed Patton.

"We will not make the mistake again," he said at the meeting held at Chungtiayimsen in Mokokchung district. One should not test the patience of the Nagaland government or the Naga people, the deputy chief minister said.

Patton did not mention when Sarma and Rio decided to withdraw the forces from the border, but the two met twice in Guwahati and Shillong last week.

"Honoured to have received special visitors at my residence, Nagaland CM Sri @Neiphiu_Rio & Dy CM Sri @YanthungoPatton. I thank them for finding time to discuss a host of development projects of the two states," Sarma tweeted on July 23.

Rio did not make any statement on the issue till now. Patton urged the people not to take law into their own hands but to approach the state government and work together to solve the issue. The deputy chief minister assured that the border issue is being taken up at the highest level for a peaceful resolution.

Assam and Nagaland share a 512.1 km long border. Nagaland Director General of Police T John Longkumer, who accompanied the deputy CM, appreciated the Tzurangkong range people for not taking the matter into their own hands and worsening the situation. He said that he has talked to his counterpart in Assam on the issue of withdrawing forces along the disputed area.