Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Laos, the Congress on Thursday said India's gateway to ASEAN is the northeast and asked why the PM is "steadfastly refusing" to visit Manipur that has been "torn apart so tragically since May 2023".
Modi on Thursday arrived in Vientiane in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits and further deepen engagement with countries in the groupings. Modi is visiting Lao PDR at the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "It has to be said over and over again. The self-anointed non-biological PM is off to Laos. He will, of course talk much of India's Act East policy that supposedly began in 2014 - no matter that India's Look East Policy was in existence for almost two decades prior to that."
"India's gateway to ASEAN is our northeast. Why is Mr. Narendra Modi steadfastly refusing to visit the troubled state of Manipur that has been torn apart so tragically since May 2023?" Ramesh said on X.
"His (PM's) refusal to do so is simply beyond any understanding. The people of Manipur, who have seen so much agony and suffering, surely deserve such a visit," Ramesh said.
The Congress has been attacking Modi for not visiting Manipur since violence erupted there on May 3, 2023, following a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's push for Scheduled Tribe status.
Since then, the violence has claimed the lives of more than 220 individuals, including members of both the Kuki and Meitei communities, as well as security personnel.