"Very Rare": Congress Reacts To US Envoy's Remarks On Manipur Violence

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Thursday said that his country is "ready to assist" the Centre in its peace efforts to restore normalcy in violence-hit Manipur, though it remains India's internal matter.

"I don't think it's about strategic concerns, it's about human concerns. You don't have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence," Mr Garcetti said in response to a question on whether the US was concerned about the violence in Manipur.

"We stand ready to assist in any ways if asked. We know it's an Indian matter and we pray for that peace and that it may come quickly," he said.

Reacting sharply to Mr Garcetti's statement, the Congress said it's very rare for a US envoy to make such a statement on India's internal affairs and that the country has never appreciated any such "interference". "To the best of my recollection going back at least 4 decades in Public life I have never heard a US Ambassador making a statement of this nature about the internal affairs of India," Congress leader Manish Tewari said.

"We faced Challenges in Punjab, J&K , North East over the decades and surmounted those with sagacity & wisdom. I doubt if the New @USAmbIndia @ericgarcettz 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," Mr Tewari said.

Over 120 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 have been injured in the violence in Manipur, which began on May 3 

As many as 114 companies of the Central Armed Police Force are deployed in various sectors of Manipur and the same number of columns of the Army and Assam Rifles are also patrolling various districts.

Sporadic incidents of violence and arson still occur despite the heavy presence of security forces in parts of the remote state, which borders Myanmar.