ABSTRACT
The inter-state border disputes in Northeast India had their origins in the British colonial policy of inner line regulations, sedentarisation, and mapping of topography and population. The colonial demarcation of the border had no regard for the local population’s history, culture, traditional boundary, and sentiments and, more importantly, their consent. The postcolonial Indian state half-heartedly followed more or less the same colonial policy. As a result, many ethnic groups in the region have not reconciled to colonial power and postcolonial state territoriality and cartography and challenged the borders as artificial and superimposed against them. Thus, boundary demarcation and the creation of states arbitrarily has led to ethnic tribal movements and contestations over borders. In the process, there have been confrontations between constitutional boundaries and provisions with traditional, historical, and ethnic boundaries in these contests. This entry examines an overview of inter-state border disputes in Northeast India, their causes, dispute resolutions, and present situation, and the way forward.
