'Proud Of Our Democratic Institutions': India Responds After Fresh US Remarks On Kejriwal Arrest

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a press conference on Thursday. (Image: News18 File)

Underlining that legal processes in the country are only driven by the rule of law, India on Thursday rejected the latest comments made by the US State Department as “completely unacceptable” and added that fellow democracies should respect the sovereignty and internal affairs of others.

“The recent remarks by the State Department are unwarranted. Any such imputation on our electoral and legal process is completely unacceptable. In India, legal processes are only driven by the rule of law. Anyone who shares a similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty in appreciating this fact,” External Affairs Ministry (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press conference on Thursday.

“India is proud of its robust and democratic institutions. We are committed to protecting them from any form of undue external influence. Mutual respect and understanding form the basis of international relations, and states are expected to respect the sovereignty and internal affairs of others,” Jaiswal said in response to a question during the presser.

The United States of America has stuck to its remarks on Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, despite India summoning a senior US diplomat to lodge a protest. The country has also now commented on freezing of bank accounts of the Congress, which will “make it challenging for the party to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections”.

Washington on Wednesday stressed that it encourages fair, transparent, timely legal processes and “we don’t think anyone should object to that”. “We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Miller was responding to a question during the State Department briefing over India summoning Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena in New Delhi earlier in the day as well as on freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts.

“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. “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. We’ll make the same thing clear privately,” Miller said.

Miller’s remarks came a day after the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a US State Department official’s remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest. The meeting lasted for more than 30 minutes. Earlier, the Indian government took 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 MEA said. “India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the MEA said.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy ‘scam’. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped.