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US ready to help in Manipur if asked, says Garcetti; 'Never heard statement of this nature': Cong leader
US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said Manipur situation is of human concern and one does not have to be an Indian to care for loss of lives in violence.
On a question pertaining to Manipur violence, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti who was in Kolkata on Thursday said the US is ready to assist in any way if asked to resolve the crisis and the northeast can't prosper without peace. Noting that this is an internal matter of India, Eric Garcetti said the US does not have any strategic concerns but it has human concerns. The comment drew a response from Congress MP Manish Tewari who said it is very rare for a US envoy to make a statement "of this nature about the internal affairs of India".
"You don't have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence. We know peace is a precedent for so many good things. There has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East...We stand ready to assist in any way if asked. We know it's an Indian matter and we pray for that peace and that it may come quickly. Because we can bring more collaboration, more projects, more investment if that peace is in place," Eric Garcetti said.
Manish Tewari referred to earlier challenges in Punjab, J&K, Northeast and said the US ambassadors were cautious. "We faced Challenges in Punjab, J&K , North East over the decades and surmounted those with sagacity & wisdom. Even when Robin Raphel would be loquacious on J&K in the 1990’s the US Ambassador’s (sic) in India were circumspect," Manish Tewari tweeted.
"I doubt if the New @USAmbIndia @ericgarcetti is cognisant of the convoluted & torturous history of US-India relations & our sensitivity about interference perceived or real, well intentioned or mal intentioned into our internal affairs," the Congress leader added.
India never lectures the US on gun violence, Manish Tewari told news agency ANI. “As far as the US ambassador is concerned, the country faces several challenges but India has never appreciated any statement for its internal matters. There is gun violence in the US & several people are killed. We never told the US to learn from us as to how to rein that in. US faces riots over racism. We never told them that we will lecture them...Perhaps it is important for the new Ambassador to take cognisance of the history of India-US relations,” the Congress MP said.
The situation in Manipur remains tense with incidents of sporadic violence taking place in the state two months after an ethnic violence broke out on May 3 between Meitei and other communities in the state. More than 100 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 were injured in the months-long violence.
