Never heard US envoy making statement on India's internal affairs: Cong MP Manish Tewari on Garcetti's Manipur remarks

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Friday expressed strong disapproval of US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti's comments on Manipur and said he doubts if the new American envoy is cognisant of the torturous history of bilateral ties and India's sensitivity about interference, perceived or real, in its internal affairs.

Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday, Garcetti said, ”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 for so many good things.”

He said there has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East and the US is ready to assist in way 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 ambassador added.

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Reacting to the remarks, Tewari said on Twitter, "To the best of my recollection going back at least 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, J-K , northeast over the decades and surmounted those with sagacity and wisdom," the former Union minister said.

Even when Robin Raphel would be "loquacious" on Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s, US ambassadors in India were circumspect, he said.

Raphel is a former US diplomat who looked after south and central Asian affairs.

"I doubt if the new @USAmbIndia @ericgarcetti 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," the Congress MP from Punjab said.

Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed latched onto the US ambassador's remarks to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"US ambassador Eric Garcetti on Manipur violence - 'It's about human concerns. You don't have to be Indian to care when children or individuals die in this violence.' Sadly, @narendramodi doesn't seem to have any human concerns, because he hasn't mentioned Manipur even once!" she said on Twitter.

More than 100 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Around 40,000 central security personnel, besides the Manipur Police, have been deployed to control the violence and bring back normality in the state.

With inputs from agencies