Terming the situation in Manipur amid the ethnic violence, as “distressing”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre had worked extensively to help the north-east region realise its potential and is working for the return of normalcy in the state. The EAM was interacting with the Indian community in Seoul. During this, he was asked about the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and the situation due to the infux of migrants from Myanmar.
Replying to the question, Jaishankar said that the potential of the north-east region was not explored fully earlier and it has changed in the last 10 years.
He said that the eruption of tensions despite putting in so much effort is “disturbing”.
“The potential of North-East has now begun to unfold, we used to talk about Look East policy, Act East policy. We were not looking east and acting east in our own country. If you see how difficult it was to travel, the level of business, the attention given, the resources given, it was actually very disturbing. That has been one of the changes of the last 10 years,” the EAM said.
“Putting this much effort, having seen how much the states of North-East India have changed in the last decade, everyone is…distressed is a very mild word at what is happening in Manipur,” he added.