New Delhi: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti Thursday expressed concern over the violence and killings in Manipur, stating that the United States stands “ready to assist in any way if asked” in addressing the situation.
Garcetti affirmed that although the United States does not have “strategic concerns”, he emphasised that the issue is primarily a matter of “human concern”.
“Let me speak about Manipur first. We pray for peace there. When you ask us about the concern of the United States, I don’t think it’s a strategic concern. I think it’s about human concern,” the US envoy said at a press conference in Kolkata.
“You don’t have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence. We know peace as a precedent for so many good things,” he added.
Garcetti further said that “there’s been so much progress in the Northeast and in the East here. The country has done some remarkable things in recent years and those can’t continue without peace.”
The US envoy asserted that the matter is “internal” to India and expressed hope for prompt peace in the state.
“We know this is an Indian matter and we pray for that peace that it may come quickly because we can bring more collaboration, more projects, more investment if that peace is in place,” he stated.
The clashes between the Meiteis and the tribal Kuki communities in Manipur have been ongoing for the past two months. As a result of the conflict, many people were forced to seek refuge in relief camps, leaving more than 155 fatalities and the displacement of over 50,000 individuals