Reacting to the reports about his proposed visit to Ukraine, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s priorities seeking to know if he would also visit Manipur.
Ramesh demanded to know whether the prime minister had engaged in a one-on-one discussion with Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh regarding the dire situation in Manipur when he was in New Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog meeting presided over by him.
In a post on X, the senior Congress leader said, “The simple question that the people of Manipur are asking is this: Did Shri N. Biren Singh meet with Shri Narendra Modi separately one-on-one and discuss the situation in Manipur, which started burning on the night of May 3rd, 2023?”
He also wanted to know if the Manipur chief minister invited Modi to the violence-hit state and if he plans to visit the state before or after his trip to war-torn Ukraine. “Did Shri Biren Singh invite Shri Narendra Modi to visit Manipur, either before or after His trip to Ukraine,” Ramesh asked.
The ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki Zomi communities in Manipur began on the night of May 3, 2023. The state has since seen sporadic violence and unrest resulting in the death of nearly 200 people.
The Congress leader’s remarks came in the wake of the reports of Modi’s proposed visit to Ukraine on August 23, 2024. The likely visit, the first since the Ukraine war broke out, comes days after Modi visited Russia and discussed the Ukraine war with President Vladimir Putin.