"The wild allegations of the Assam government's spokesperson made against Nagaland and the chief minister on the matter of Nagaland-Assam border issue are totally baseless and unfounded," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement here.
During his visit to tension-hit Charaipung area in Sivasagar district bordering Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh yesterday, Assam Health Minister and government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sharma alleged that Rio and NSCN-IM were solely responsible for ongoing border tensions.
Rio said Sharma's statements were "inflammatory in nature and politically motivated", adding that "a responsible government leader was not expected to make such inflammatory statements which were without any basis and justification".
"The Nagaland government condemns the statements and refutes all allegations made by the Assam government's spokesperson," the statement said.
"The Nagaland government was of the view that the people of Nagaland and Assam have coexisted as friendly neighbours since time immemorial and will continue to do so for all times.
"Therefore, in order to maintain friendly relations and peaceful mutual co-existence, all disputes and outstanding issues should be resolved through negotiations under a spirit of understanding and mutual respect," the statement said.
Rio maintained that issuing of such "immature statements and baseless allegations" would only create enmity and mistrust, saying that responsible leaders should refrain from such "unbecoming behaviour".