Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said the Centre was ready for talks and settle the issue. Riots broke out on May 3 between the Meitei community that mainly live in Imphal Valley and the Naga and Kuki tribes who are inhabitants of the hill districts over the demand of the former for Scheduled Tribe status, killing at least 54 people.

A defence statement said that 23,000 civilians from all communities have been rescued so far and were moved to shelters. Life started limping back to normalcy under the watchful eyes of army drones and choppers deployed for aerial reconnaissance as curfew was relaxed on Sunday in parts of Manipur, which witnessed bloody ethnic rioting over the last few days.