Guwahati, Jun 22: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today advocated third party mediation for resolving the vexed border disputes with the neighbouring state of Nagaland.
Interacting with Supreme Court-appointed mediators on the Assam-Nagaland border dispute at his office chamber here, Mr Gogoi said, ''Third party mediation is the best way to resolve the long standing border dispute between the two states.'' Sriram Panchu, senior advocate of Chennai High Court, and Niranjan Bhatt, senior advocate of Gujarat High Court, have been appointed by the apex court to look into the dispute.
The chief minister said his government wants the settlement of the border row with Nagaland once and for all, taking into confidence the people of the state.
''We have approached the Supreme Court so that the border row is resolved once and for all. The apex court verdict will be binding upon one and all,'' he said.
Lauding the endeavour of the Supreme Court appointed mediators, Mr Gogoi said the steps, initiated to elicit the views and opinions of cross section of people on both sides of the border would, go a long way in arriving at a broad consensus on resolving the dispute.
The chief minister agreed to the views of the mediators that status quo should be maintained till the border row is settled.
''There are occasional instances of disturbance along the inter-state border, but by and large the situation is normal,'' he said.
