Mushfiqul Fazal, State Department correspondent
Reiterating the US’ position regarding its comments about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the State Department has again stated that they ‘encourage fair, transparent, and timely legal processes.’
Mathew Miller, spokesperson for the State Department, at a briefing on Wednesday asked about the US ’ reaction as the Indian government summoned the US diplomat over comments regarding the arrest of Delhi’s Chief Minister Kejriwal.
State Department correspondent Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey raised the question and also wanted to know the spokesperson’s view on recent political turmoil in India, including the freezing of the opposition party Congress’ bank account.
In response, Miller said the US continues to follow incidents in India closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal.
“We are also aware of the Congress Party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections, and we encourage fair, transparent, and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” said the State Department spokesperson.
He further told the questioner, “With respect to your first question, I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations. But of course what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes.”
“We don’t think anyone should object to that, and we’ll make the same thing clear privately,” Miller added.
India’s Foreign Ministry summoned Gloria Berbena, the US’ Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, to a 40-minute meeting at its office in Delhi to protest Washington’s remarks on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Kejriwal
In a brief statement released shortly afterwards, India’s Foreign Ministry warned of “unhealthy precedents” and against “unwarranted aspersions”.
“States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” India’s Foreign Ministry said.
On Tuesday, the US State Department said it is monitoring reports of Kejriwal’s arrest, and called on New Delhi to ensure “a fair and timely legal process” for the jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was arrested last week on allegations of corruption.
MR/
