Eight hundred and sixty-four days since violence erupted and snowballed into an ethnic conflict, which has claimed more than 250 lives and displaced tens of thousands of the state’s residents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Manipur on September 13. Although belated, the visit is a welcome step amid the deadlock between the Meiteis and the Kukis, especially since the PM repeatedly emphasised the peace imperative and talked of the need to address the aspirations of the state’s youth. His stops in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur and Meitei-dominated Imphal, to meet internally displaced persons and inaugurate infrastructure projects, were symbolically significant, signalling to both communities that the country’s highest executive authority has summoned all political capital to respond to their concerns. The major theme of PM Modi’s speeches was putting Manipur........

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