New Delhi: After India summoned an American diplomat over their remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the US reiterated on Wednesday its call for “fair, transparent, timely legal processes”.
We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller while responding to questions on India summoning Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi.
The meeting at the foreign ministry’s South Block office lasted nearly 40 minutes on March 27 with India objecting strongly to the US remarks on the arrest of Kejriwal. Miller also responded to a question on the Congress party’s frozen bank accounts, saying, “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.”
He said the US encourages “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,” he said.
Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the third Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh to be taken into custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.
The US State Department on March 26 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 Chief Minister.
India objected to it and warned of “unhealthy precedents”. “States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in the case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
