Preparations start for PM's visit to Manipur
Several people familiar with the matter, in Imphal and New Delhi, said that he could, although there has been no official confirmation of a visit.
A senior security officer in Manipur, who asked not to be named, said that in two meetings chaired separately by union home secretary Govind Mohan and governor Ajay Bhalla, security forces were told to be prepared for a visit by the Prime Minister.
A senior BJP functionary in New Delhi, who too asked not to be named, said 'the PM's visit to Manipur is likely and is being planned. No dates have been fixed yet.'
Senior officials in the Manipur administration said that everyone has directed to complete ongoing infrastructure projects at the earliest in anticipation of a visit by the Prime Minister.
A visit, if it happens, will be the Prime Minister's first to the state since February 22, 2022, after which ethnic violence broke out in the state in May 2023. The violence has continued to roil the state, effectively fragmenting it into Kuki enclaves in the hills and Meitei ones in the valley, with security forces manning buffer areas between the two warring ethnic groups. The state government headed by N Biren Singh was dismissed on February 13, 2025, and the state is currently under President's rule. A total of 260 people have died in the violence, and an estimated 50,000 have been displaced.
Over the past month, the home ministry has been holding back-to-back meetings with Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups in a bid to restore normalcy. On Friday, the ministry is to meet again with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups, the third in the last month, since the talks resumed on June 9 after more than a year . On Monday, the ministry held similar peace talks with three influential Imphal based Meitei civil society organisations. The ministry has been pushing for free movement of goods and people. Previous attempts failed due to blockades by civil society groups and people refusing to travel freely across districts due to insecurity.
The senior security official cited above said the PM's visit could happen 'in the second or third week of July'.
'Nothing is official or on paper. Sprucing of the existing functional helipads at two places in Imphal valley and another in Churachandpur is underway. If at all the PM comes to Manipur, he will take the chopper from the valley to the hills,' the officer added.
The officer said that state officials 'have been told to complete the pending work of the new secretariat buildings and the Manipur police headquarters in Mantripukri at the earliest. Apart from this all roads within the valley and in Churachandpur are also being fixed.'
A BJP functionary in Manipur too confirmed the possibility of a visit. 'It is true that we have been told to be prepared. It is also a fact that suddenly the Union home ministry is holding back-to-back peace talks in New Delhi . There are two ways to look at the development. It is possible that he may come before the monsoon session, but so far the home ministry's meetings have not yielded anything substantive. The outcome of Friday's meeting with the insurgent groups is important. The government would want something substantial and positive if he is to visit.'
There has been a chorus for the Prime Minister to visit the state -- from the state's residents as well as national opposition parties.
The monsoon session of Parliament is set to start on July 21 and will conclude on August 21. PM Modi is currently on a five nation official tour and will participate in the BRICS summit in Brazil.
Manipur is abuzz with news of a possible visit. Prominent tribal civil society organisation, Zomi Council (a Kuki-Zo body) in a statement, said : 'Although no official announcement has been made from any authoritative government source till today, its possibility has given rise to renewed anticipation. If the august visit by the PM truly happens, we would extend a warm and sincere welcome to him in our land. Such a visit would be a highly symbolic act of recognition to acknowledge the grief, endurance and quiet strength of our people who went through fire. And the suffering has finally been noticed by the nation at large.'
Meitei civil society organisation COCOMI said they will comment only after the visit is officially confirmed.
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