Shillong, March 31 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday said that the border agreement with Assam was signed based on set principles that were agreed upon by the two states and these principles can’t be changed. “We cannot change our principles as per our needs and desires. The principle was based mainly on the will of the people of a particular area and their ethnicity. A principle has to apply both for Meghalaya and Assam,” he said. Conrad’s statement is significant after the opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma said the piecemeal solution to the vexed boundary dispute will spell disaster for Meghalaya. “The agreement is dangerous, insensitive and in complete disregard to the concern of the people and the state,” Mukul had said. However, the Chief Minister dismissed the opposition TMC’s claim that the stakeholders were not taken into confidence before the agreement was signed. “It is for the first time such an exhaustive consultation was held at the grassroots before the agreement was signed. Majority of the people in these areas are happy,” Conrad said. He said the Survey of India would conduct a joint survey with Meghalaya and Assam and go into the micro details of the agreement for eventual demarcation. “Finally, the border would be reorganized and a bill has to be moved in the Parliament and passed for a final demarcation of these six areas where the agreement was signed,” the Chief Minister said. On the remaining six areas of difference, Conrad said the “government would take its breath” as it has been a tough six months and then go ahead. Nonetheless, he said that both Meghalaya and Assam would not like to waste time and would build on the momentum and the trust built between the two sides to resolve the long-pending boundary disputes once and for all. RRK ARN