Meghalaya CM calls for return to normalcy in Manipur; meets with Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla

Imphal (Manipur) [India], October 10 (ANI): Meghalaya Chief Minister and National Peoples Party (NPP) president Conrad Sangma on Friday called for a return to normalcy in Manipur as he met with various stakeholders, including Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to discuss suggestions for lasting peace amid the ongoing conflict.
The Chief Minister landed in Imphal for a two-day visit and also met with acting president of Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS) BM Yaima Shah and Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) representatives.
"I met the Manipur Governor yesterday. We shared and discussed the suggestions, which came from different organisations, on what the Administration from the Government of Manipur and the Government of India could do to bring back normalcy", CM Sangma said in a press conference in Imphal, Manipur.
The suggestions provided by the NPP were also well received, Sangma added.
COCOMI spokesperson Mayengbam Dhananjoy, said that the organisation requested CM Sangma to consider opening up the national hgihways between the state and also to curb the illegal inter border drug trade and arms threat.
"We urged CM Conrad Sangma regarding the escalating situation of drug trade and illegal arms threat, as well as illegal infiltration. We urged him to open the national highways, as it is the right of every citizen of the country. We have been blocked for around 2 and a half years, we are still unable to pass through", the COCOMI spokesperson told ANI.
On the curbing of drug trafficking, he added, "We earnestly requested him to open the highways, and also requested to install, with consultations to create a narcotics control bureau to control the threats".
Meanwhile, In a move to restore safe and free movement in violence-affected Manipur, a trial run of passenger vehicles was commenced, along the Imphal-Senapati stretch of National Highway 2 on October 2.
The vehicles were escorted by State police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) since Saturday, with drivers and assistants belonging to a neutral community. According to a well-placed source, although no occupants from the warring Meitei and Kuki communities were on board, the initiative marks a gradual effort to reopen NH-2 for movement. (ANI)