NEW DELHI:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to troubled Manipur state on Saturday since more than 250 people were killed in ethnic clashes there two years ago.
Modi’s visit is part of a three-day tour that also includes Assam, which borders Bangladesh, and Bihar, India’s third-most populous state with at least 130 million people.
Bihar is a key electoral battleground ahead of polls slated for October or November, the only state in India’s northern Hindi-speaking heartland where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has never ruled alone.
It is also India’s poorest, and Modi was set to unveil investments worth $8 billion, a package that includes agricultural projects, rail links, road upgrades and an airport terminal.
