Will Ambassador Garcetti Be Summoned and Told in No Uncertain Terms US Has No Role to Play in Manipur: Congress

A day after US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, commenting on Manipur violence, asserted that it will stand ready to assist in any ways if asked, the Congress on Friday hit out at External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar asking him if he will summon the envoy and tell him in no uncertain terms the US has no role to play in the northeastern state.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence on Manipur, the Congress said that he and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had been ineffective but that does not mean that there is any opening for any other country.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "Will the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar summon the US Ambassador and tell him in no uncertain terms that the USA has no role whatsoever to play in Manipur? The responsibility for bringing back peace and harmony in Manipur is that of the Union government, the state government, the civil society and political parties in the state, especially.

"The Prime Minister is silent and the Home Minister has been ineffective. That does not mean that there is any opening for any other country. This is an Indian challenge which we as Indians have to address sensitively and resolutely."

His remarks came a day after Garcetti while speaking on Manipur violence, said:" I don't think its 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 for so many good things. There has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East...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. Because we can bring more collaboration, more projects, more investment if that peace is in place," the US Ambassador said in Kolkata on Thursday.

Earlier in the day too, Congress slammed the BJP government on the issue.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said it has never heard an US Ambassador making a statement of this nature about the internal affairs of India.

In a tweet, he said: "To the best of my recollection going back atleast four 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, Jammu abd Kashmir, North East over the decades and surmounted those with sagacity and wisdom. Even when Robin Raphel would be loquacious on J&K in the 1990’s the US Ambassador’s in India were circumspect," Tewari, a former Union Minister, said.

"I doubt if the New US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti is cognisant of the convoluted and torturous history of US-India relations and our sensitivity about interference perceived or real, well intentioned or mal intentioned into our internal affairs," he added.

The Congress has questioned silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also demanded immediate removal of Chief Minister N Biren Singh for failing miserably to control the situation in the northeastern state. It has said that it will raise the issue of Manipur violence in Parliament's Monsoon Session.