Ready to help India on Manipur crisis, says US envoy Garcetti; Cong slams 'interference'

US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Thursday (July 6) said that the country is ready to assist the Indian government in its efforts to restore peace in violence-torn Manipur.

Garcetti made the remarks while answering a question about the violence in the north-eastern state, during his visit to Kolkata.

“I don’t think it’s about strategic concerns, it’s about human concerns. We stand ready to assist in any ways if asked,” he said.

Garcetti said, “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. There has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East.”

“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,” said the ambassador.

#WATCH | US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti speaks on Manipur violence, says," 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. We know peace as a precedent… pic.twitter.com/4ZniEo6Opz

— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2023

The Congress party on Friday (July 7) reacted strongly to the US ambassador’s offer to help the Indian government in easing the situation in Manipur, saying this was the first time that a US ambassador was making such a statement regarding India’s internal affairs.

Also read: Who is Eric Garcetti, the new US ambassador to India?

Congress MP Manish Tewari in a tweet said, “To the best of my recollection going back at least 4 decades in Public life, I have never heard an US Ambassador making a statement of this nature about the internal affairs of India.”

“We faced challenges in Punjab, J&K, Northeast over the decades and surmounted those with sagacity and wisdom,” continued Tewari in his tweet.

“Even when Robin Raphel would be loquacious in the on J&K in the 1990’s, the US Ambassadors in India were circumspect. 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 MP added.

A day after #US ambassador to India #EricGarcetti commented on #ManipurViolence, the #Congress on Friday slammed the Centre, saying it has never heard a US Ambassador making a statement of this nature about the internal affairs of #India. pic.twitter.com/8RIRRJcGsO

— IANS (@ians_india) July 7, 2023

Speaking to the news agency ANI, Manish Tewari said, “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.”

Also read: Manipur: In fresh violence, woman shot dead in village by unidentified gunmen

#WATCH | Congress MP Manish Tewari says, "What is happening in Manipur is tragic. PM should have gone there and spoken up much earlier. HM should have visited the state continuously until normalcy returns there…We will raise this issue in the Parliament. As far as the US… https://t.co/n66U6xVyZ8 pic.twitter.com/8UBl6Z1XbQ

— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2023

(With inputs from agencies)