NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited troubled Manipur state on Saturday for the first time since ethnic clashes killed more than 250 people there two years ago.
Modi’s three-day tour also includes Assam, which borders Bangladesh, and Bihar, India’s third-most populous state with at least 130 million people.
Bihar represents a key electoral battleground ahead of polls slated for October or November as the only state in India’s northern Hindi-speaking heartland where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has never ruled alone.
India’s poorest state will receive investments worth $8 billion, including agricultural projects, rail links, road upgrades and an airport terminal.
Manipur has remained bitterly divided since May 2023 violence between the mainly Hindu Meitei majority and the largely Christian Kuki community.
Tens of thousands of displaced people continue living in makeshift camps established by the government.
“The government of India is making all possible efforts to bring life back on track in Manipur,“ Modi told thousands gathered in Churachandpur, a Kuki-dominated town.
“I promise you today that I’m with you and the government of India stands with the people of Manipur,“ Modi said while appealing to all groups to pursue peace.
Modi also addressed a rally at Imphal, the Meitei-dominated capital of the state.
The prime minister last visited the state bordering Myanmar and 1,700 kilometres from New Delhi in 2022.
The Hindu nationalist leader inaugurated development projects worth more than $960 million during that visit, including five highways and a new police headquarters.
Manipur’s former chief minister N. Biren Singh from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party resigned in February after criticism over his failure to stop the bloodshed.
The state of nearly three million people has since been ruled directly from New Delhi.
Tensions between Meiteis and Kukis have long simmered in the region due to competition for land and government jobs.
Rights groups accuse political leaders of fuelling these divisions for their own gain. – AFP
