Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday asserted that the clash along his state's border with Meghalaya was not related to any "boundary issue" and said border-related disputes with neighbouring states will be settled soon.
He said timber was being smuggled and when forest officials tried to stop the vehicle "a conflict arose" between local people and police.
"But unfortunately, those who died are residents of Meghalaya. But it has nothing to do with a territorial issue ... it was not a boundary issue," he said at the Times Now Summit here.
He said till 2014, most northeast states had Congress governments but no efforts were made to settle border disputes.
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He said half of the disputes of Assam with Meghalaya have been settled and the remaining will be settled by next year.
With Arunachal Pradesh, all disputes will be settled within four to five months, he said.
Six people, including a forest guard, were killed in violence along the Assam-Meghalaya border in the early hours of Tuesday after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by forest personnel of Assam.
