Itanagar Nov 22 PTI Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Bamang Felix on Monday said the state government has started holding discussions with its Assam counterpart to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute between the two North-eastern neighboursBoth the governments have agreed to maintain status quo and resolve the matter peacefully he saidThe discussions began after the Assam forest department last week served an eviction notice to residents of three villages on the disputed borderThis is unfortunate The matter has been taken seriously by the state government and talks have begun at various levels Felix told reporters hereState Chief Minister Pema Khandu has spoken to his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on the issue he saidThe state chief secretary and the inspector general of police have taken up the matter with their Assam counterparts Felix saidThe Range Forest Officer RFO of Harmutty in Assams North Lakhimpur district issued a notice asking people of three villages under Kimin Circle to vacate the place within 15 days evoking resentment among various organisations in Arunachal PradeshThe DCs and SPs of adjoining districts of the two states are already on talks to resolve the matter he saidArunachal which was carved out of Assam was initially a Union territory It became a full-fledged state in 1987 The two states share an 8041 km long borderArunachals grievance is that during re-organisation of North-eastern states several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities were unilaterally transferred to AssamAfter Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal Assam contested this and the matter is now pending in the Supreme CourtFelix also urged the All Nyishi Students Union ANSU to withdraw the call for Capital complex region bandh on Tuesday in the greater interest of the state and its peopleThe ANSU called the 12-hour bandh over demands including withdrawal of FIRs registered against its leaders after an agitationAdequate security measures have been put in place to ensure that daily activities of the capital region are not affected by the bandh callWhile all government offices will function normally state transport busses will be placed for lifting and dropping of employees the home minister said and appealed to the business establishments to open their shopsHe added that the state government would like to assure the citizens of the capital region that the police and the administration would ensure safety and security of the peopleThere is an exam scheduled under the CBSE board on November 23 and considering their situation the student body should call off the bandh Felix said PTI UPL NN NN