"This is 'an Indian matter' but...", says Eric Garcetti on Manipur

Washington: Describing the ongoing violence in Manipur as an "internal matter" of India, America's top diplomat in New Delhi, Eric Garcetti, on Thursday said that "our" hearts break whenever there's human suffering.

Garcetti, who is currently in Washington for consultations with US Government officials, made the comments while responding to a question on a graphic video of two disrobed women being brutalised by a mob in Manipur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the incident had shamed 140 crore Indians and vowed that no guilty will be spared and law will act with its "full might and firmness".

"I've not seen the video. This is the first that I'm hearing of it. But as I stated before, our hearts break whenever there's human suffering, whether it's in our neighborhood or across the globe or in the country where we're living," the US ambassador said in response to a question.

"Our hearts continue to go out to Indian people. As I've said, this is an Indian matter and internal matter, but of course we are always here as fellow human beings sympathising with that sort of pain and that sort of suffering," Garcetti told PTI.

The incident in a village in Kangpokpi district that was captured in the 26-second video and stoked a nationwide outrage took place a day after ethnic violence erupted in India's northeastern state on May 3 but the horrific footage surfaced only on Wednesday and became viral after the internet ban was lifted.

More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.