Guwahati: Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma here on Wednesday said that his government would approach Bangladesh through central government for a lasting solution to illegal immigration issue of the state, once the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was updated.

Pointing out that draft NRC will be published by the end of this year, Mr Sarma said, “The Assam government would move the central government to take up the issue of illegal immigrants with Bangladesh.”

Asserting that the issue of illegal immigration was an area of serious concern for the people of Assam, Mr Sarma said that this issue of identification of illegal immigrants would be laid to rest, once the NRC was updated and published. “The publication of NRC will also let us know the magnitude of the problem,” he said.

“The relation between the Northeastern states of India and Bangladesh is friendly and based on shared values, but there are some challenges, one of which is the issue of influx from Bangladesh,” said Mr Sarma.