‘Most widely-travelled PM of India’ will allot 3 hours to Manipur?

The Wikipedia entry for the ‘List of international prime ministerial trips made by Narendra Modi’ calls him the ‘most widely-travelled Prime Minister of India‘.

But, points out Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, the conflict-ridden state of Manipur has had to wait 29 months for his attention — scheduled into his diary presumably (per media reports) for 13 September.

For all of 3 hours of his attention, in fact, as Ramesh pointed out.

Calling the “non-visit” proof of the PM’s “callousness and insensitivity” to the people of Manipur, Ramesh wondered what Modi hopes to accomplish with “such a rushed trip” — apart from “being hailed by his cheerleaders”, that is.

“This is actually an insult to the people of the state who have waited for him for 29 long and agonising months,” Ramesh posted on X.

Notably, reports suggest the Manipur trip is still a mere proposal at this stage. An ‘expected visit’ is what leading newspaper and news channels are still calling it in the afternoon of 7 September, Sunday, as we publish this, with no official confirmation — only buzz around the bustle of preparations in Imphal and on highways leading to and out of it.

Though, again, the usefulness of highway access being granted as a special case by the Kuki-Zo tribes who bar them to Meitei compatriots is debatable — given how much time PM Modi will (not) have to traverse them.

Meanwhile, the Wiki entry, citing assorted news reports — both national and international, so let no one slander the ‘Godi media’ — notes: ‘As of September 2025, Narendra Modi has made 92 international trips, visiting 78 countries, including visits to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly.’

The Manipur crisis erupted on 3 May 2023. Since then, the Prime Minister has visited...

In 2023: 10 nations, for 25 days

• Japan: 19–21 May

• Papua New Guinea: 21–22 May

• Australia: 22–24 May

• The United State of America (the UN trip): 20–23 June

• Egypt: 24–25 June

• France: 13–15 July

• The United Arab Emirates: 15 July

• South Africa: 22–24 August

• Greece: 25 August

• Indonesia: 5–7 September

• The UAE (again, this time for another UN engagement): 30 November–2 December

In 2024: 16 nations, for 33 days

• The UAE (yes, again! there were photo ops from a Hindu mandir inauguration): 13–14 February

• Qatar: 14–15 February

• Bhutan: 22–23 March

• Italy: 13–14 June

• Russia: 8–9 July

• Austria: 9–10 July

• Poland: 21–22 August

• Ukraine: 23–24 August

• Brunei: 3–4 September

• Singapore: 4–5 September

• The US (it was the UN calling, yet again... what can you do?): 21–23 September

• Laos: 10–11 October

• Russia (VIP=v important place, merits a 2nd visit this year): 22–24 October

• Nigeria: 16–17 November

• Brazil: 18–19 November

• Guyana: 19–21 November

• Kuwait: 21–22 December

In 2025, thus far: 18 nations, 31 days — with more than a quarter of the year to go.

• France: 10–12 February

• The US: 12–13 February

• Mauritius: 11–12 March

• Thailand: 3–4 April

• Sri Lanka: 4–6 April

• Saudi Arabia: 22 April

• Cyprus: 15–16 June

• Canada: 16–17 June

• Croatia: 18 June

• Ghana: 2–3 July

• Trinidad and Tobago: 3–4 July

• Argentina: 4–5 July (whew! he is tireless)

• Brazil: 5–8 July

• Namibia: 9 July

• The United Kingdom: 23–24 July

• Maldives: 25–26 July

• Japan: 29–30 August

• China: 31 August–1 September

Scheduled ahead for 2025–26 are further visits to Malaysia, South Africa and Norway, reports suggest.

There were also, in the same time span 177 domestic trips around the various states — and this is not excessive at all, seeing as 2024 was an election year. Most of the North-East’s Seven Sisters got a look in, too — Assam, Arunachal, Tripura, Meghalaya, all got their road shows, and even Nagaland got a touchdown just before the crisis. Mizoram, alas, is too close to Manipur, geographically and culturally, and has shared its fate to date.

NB: If our readers feel a statewise tally of prime ministerial domestic trips around India is a better comparison for Manipur, do let us know in the comments below. They are, helpfully, available on the PM India site right here. We can copy-paste another list right in.

Notably, PM Modi’s followers and supporters who doubtless assiduously curate such wikis are unlikely to exaggerate (the truth is impressive enough, no? and easy to verify from the official government site) — and are even less likely to understate the numbers, for this is impressive, the stuff of legends that future generations will take pride in. Memorable facts and figures, these.

And no, we're not here to kvetch about the expense to the exchequer. Or whether and to what extent these were necessary. ‘Ours not to, etc.’

Time alone will tell, however, what Manipur’s children will grow up remembering — and remember to pass on about the crisis the state weathered, when President’s Rule was lifted, and whether Kuki and Meitei ever learnt to see each other as compatriots again.