India chalks out roadmap to resolve escalating ethnic violence in Manipur

By Tayyaba Nisar Khan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Indian government on Tuesday said it has charted out a roadmap to resolve the long-running conflict in the northeastern Manipur state.

“We have taken a number of steps in Manipur, we are holding discussions with the Kuki and Meitei groups. To stop infiltration, we have suspended the Free Movement Regime along the Myanmar border and decided to fence the border,” Home Minister Amit Shah said in a live-streamed news conference held in the capital New Delhi.

Shah said the federal government is in talks with the ethnic groups to bring an end to the lingering "ethnic violence," which he said is “different than terrorism.”

The press conference was held on the completion of the first 100 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coalition government, following the latest spare of protests by students.

Last week, 40 students were injured in clashes with security forces when they attempted to march to press their demands for the removal of the police chief and security advisor to the state government, prompting authorities to impose a curfew in three districts.

"We are hopeful to bring the situation under control. But this is ethnic violence, and there can’t be any solution till a dialogue between them,” Shah added.

While the fencing of a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) portion of the India-Myanmar border has been completed, the government has allocated a budget for fencing the total 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) border between the two countries, he added.

He said India and Myanmar have reached an agreement to control the porous border between the two sides by allowing entry into India only by a visa.

The new violence follows ethnic fighting in Manipur last year, which resulted in the killing of at least 180 people and affected thousands of others.

Fighting has taken place between members of the majority Meitei and the Kuki tribal communities in the state.

Meitei are mostly Hindu and dominant in the state's population, while Kukis are mostly Christians, and among the most socio-economically disadvantaged groups in India.