RAIPUR, Nov. 1 -- Areas of Chhattisgarh once identified as part of the Maoist "red corridor" are now emerging as centres of peace, trust and development after the "decisive" end of Left Wing Extremism in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

In a letter to Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai on the occasion of the state's foundation Chhattisgarh, PM Modi said Maoist violence had been one of the biggest obstacles to the state's progress for a long time, but the situation had now transformed.

"Some years ago, areas which were known as the red corridor of Naxalism are today becoming new centers of peace, trust, and development," Modi said in the letter on Saturday, adding that this shift had accelerated the expansion of ...