A day after India summoned a US diplomat and objected to remarks on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, the United States reiterated its call for “fair, transparent, timely legal processes”. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that it was aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities had frozen some of their bank accounts.
“We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. We encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” Miller said.
Miller was responding to a question during the State Department briefing about India summoning Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena in Delhi, as well as on the freezing of Congress’s bank accounts.
“We are also aware of the Congress’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,” Miller said.
When asked about India summoning the US diplomat, Miller refused to make any comment, citing “private diplomatic conversations”.
“I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations. But of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said here, that we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes. We don’t think anyone should object to that,” Miller said.
New Delhi had earlier lodged a strong protest against Washington’s “closely monitoring” remark on the arrest of Kejriwal.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had summoned the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena to its office in South Block in Delhi. The meeting lasted for more than 30 minutes.
The MEA later in a statement said, “We take strong objection to the remarks of the Spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India.”
“In diplomacy, states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others. This responsibility is even more so in the case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the statement said.
India’s legal processes are based on “an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes,” the MEA said while underlining that “casting aspersions on that was unwarranted”.
India on Saturday (March 23) summoned the German deputy chief of mission in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against that country’s foreign ministry’s remarks on the arrest of Kejriwal.
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the now scrapped liquor policy case.
(with inputs from agencies)
