India in talks with ethnic groups clashing in Manipur state

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian government is in talks seeking to resolve a long-running conflict between two ethnic communities in the northeastern state of Manipur, Interior Minister Amit Shah said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Internet and mobile data services were restored in Manipur on Monday, official orders showed, after being suspended in some areas last week when student protests turned violent amid fresh fighting between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki groups.

"We hope that we will be able bring the situation (in Manipur) under control," Shah told reporters at an event outlining the first 100 days of the third term of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.

"If both (ethnic groups) do not come to an understanding, there won't be a resolution to the matter," Shah said, adding that the government was prepared with a "road map" outlining a range of efforts for the coming days.

Manipur's government is led by Modi and Shah's Bharatiya Janata Party.

The local government imposed a curfew in the Imphal Valley and surrounding districts last week, and government and private colleges in the state, which borders Myanmar, were also ordered shut for a few days.

Schools are set to reopen on Tuesday, according to a government order, while a partial curfew is still in effect.

At least 225 people have died and some 60,000 have been displaced since fighting broke out last year between the Meitei and Kuki communities over the sharing of economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education that are given to the tribal Kukis.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, and Tora Agarwala in Guwahati, India; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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