A meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of the eight northeastern states to discuss inter-state border disputes and ways to tackle the surge in Covid-19 cases in the region is underway here on Saturday, an official said.

All the chief ministers, chief secretaries and police chiefs of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim are attending the closed-door meeting chaired by the Union home minister that began at the State Convention Centre at Pinewood Hotel Annexe around 6 pm, he said.

Shah was briefed on the inter-state border disputes that are plaguing the region for a long time, and the Covid situation in different states, the official said.

Several northeastern states have inter-state border disputes. The boundary issue between Assam and Mizoram has flared up violently several times in the past few years.

Some northeastern states are also reporting a high number of Covid-19 cases.

Later in the evening, the Union home minister will meet leaders of civil society organisations, who are likely to raise demands for the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya and the inclusion of Khasi in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, the official said.

After landing at Shillong airport earlier in the day, where he was received by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Union minister Jitendra Singh, Shah attended a meeting of North East Space Applications Centre (NESAC).

He then inaugurated an ISBT terminal at Mawiong on the city outskirts and a cryogenic plant in New Shillong Township.

Shah is scheduled to visit Sohra (formerly called Cherrapunji) on Sunday to inaugurate an afforestation project and the Greater Sohra Water Supply Scheme, and also visit the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram there.