The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 28 reiterated the Government of India’s objection to the back-to-back remarks from the U.S. Department of State about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and freezing of the chief opposition Congress’ bank accounts. In the weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reminded that the modern states are “expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others.”
Hours later, the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General dealt with the same matter and called for “free and fair” voting in India.
“The recent remarks by the State Department are unwarranted. Any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is completely unacceptable. In India, legal processes are driven only by the Rule of Law. Anyone who has similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty in appreciating this fact,” said Mr. Jaiswal.
The MEA had summoned Gloria Berbena, the U.S.’s Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, to a 40-minute meet at the South Block on Wednesday to convey the protest officially. Earlier this month, the MEA had responded to the remarks of the U.S. State Department on the Citizenship Amendment Act and described the comments as “misplaced and unwarranted”.
Washington on Wednesday said that the U.S. “continues to follow” the Central government’s actions in the run-up to general elections, including Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest.
“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”, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a response to a question posed by a journalist.
“We encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues.... We don’t think anyone should object to that,” he added in the comments that came in response to a journalist who cited a critical report by human rights agency Amnesty International on the run-up to elections.
“India is proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions. We are committed to protecting them from any form of undue external influences. Mutual respect and understanding form the foundation of international relations and states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others,” said Mr. Jaiswal on Thursday in response to the remarks from Mr. Miller.
The U.S. response came a day after India summoned Germany’s deputy chief of mission Georg Enzweiler after German Foreign Office spokesperson had said Germany had taken note of Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest.
Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson for Germany’s foreign office, had said, “We assume and expect that the standards relating to the independence of the judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case.”
U.N. chief’s spokesperson calls for ‘free and fair’ vote
Soon after the MEA’s strong remarks on the U.S. spokesperson’s comments, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General dealt with a similar question on the arrest of Mr. Kejriwal and the freezing of the Congress bank accounts calling for protection of civil and political rights. “We very much hope that in India and in any country that is having elections, everyone’s rights are protected - including political and civil rights — and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair,” Mr. Dujarric said. The MEA is yet to respond to this rare comment from the U.N. on India’s electoral process.
