Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday he is willing to sit down with his Telangana counterpart, K Chandrasekhar Rao, and sort out issues between the two States post bifurcation. Addressing a press conference, he said: “I am not new to him. It should make things easy for both the States.”

He further said the division has been done in haste, causing hardship to Telugu people. Assets have not been divided in a well thought out manner. This is causing considerable strain on the relationship between the States.

Referring to the controversy over the release of water in Krishna delta, he asked if such water release is new. The arrangement has been on for years, he pointed out, saying some issues are being raised unnecessarily and blown up.

The Centre has a mechanism in place to share water between two States and, accordingly, the Krishna and Godavari water boards will sit down and address the concerns of both the States, Naidu said. Referring to the sharing of assets such as power, he said these are governed by power purchase agreements made in the past and accordingly power will be supplied. There is no violation, the CM insisted.

He further said that while assets have been divided based on geographical location, the debt has been apportioned based on population, “something very hard to understand.”

He wanted to know what was the need to construct a wall within the Secretariat and divide the Telangana and AP sections. It is like a wall between India and Pakistan, he said.

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