15/08/2026
The Gopinath Bordoloi Committee Report (1951) is the historical and administrative anchor of the border demarcation—and subsequent boundary dispute—between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Key Recommendations & Statement
Following independence, a sub-committee headed by Gopinath Bordoloi (the first Chief Minister of Assam and head of the North-East Frontier Advisory Committee under the Constituent Assembly) was tasked with studying the administration of the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT).
In 1951, the sub-committee submitted its report with the following core recommendation:
Transfer of Plain Foothills: Approximately 3,648 square kilometres of plain foothill territory (primarily in the Balipara and Sadiya foothill tracts) were transferred from NEFT to Assam’s adjoining plain districts of Darrang and Lakhimpur.
Administrative Rationale: The transfer was recommended on the grounds of administrative convenience, economic integration, and physical contiguity between the plains and the surrounding administrative machinery of Assam.
Divergent Perspectives
This 1951 administrative transfer became the main point of contention when the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) was carved out to become the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972 (and later a full state in 1987):
PerspectiveCore Standpoint
AssamMaintains that the boundary defined post-1951, based on the Bordoloi Committee recommendations and subsequent government notifications, is the legal and constitutional border.
Arunachal PradeshArgued that the transfer of the 3,648 sq km plain/foothill belt was unilateral and arbitrary. It contended that local tribal chiefs and communities were not consulted, despite holding traditional and customary rights over these foothill tracts.
Historical Timeline of the Dispute & Resolution
1.Bordoloi Committee Report
1951
Sub-committee recommends transferring ~3,648 sq km of plain foothill areas from NEFT (later NEFA) to Assam districts.
2.Creation of Arunachal Pradesh
1972 & 1987
NEFA becomes a Union Territory (1972) and later a full state (1987). Dispute over the 1951 transferred lands intensifies.
3.Tripartite Demarcation Committee
1979–1984
A high-powered committee demarcates 489 km out of the 800 km boundary. Demarcation stalls as Arunachal Pradesh rejects the 1951 baseline.
4.Supreme Court Suit & Local Boundary Commission
1989 & 2006
Assam files an original suit in the Supreme Court. In 2006, the Supreme Court set up a Local Boundary Commission, which submitted a report in 2014 suggesting mutual consensus.
5.Namsai Declaration & Landmark MoU
2022–2023
Both states sign the Namsai Declaration (2022) and a comprehensive MoU (April 2023) in New Delhi to resolve claims over 123 disputed border villages based on ground verification.
