During a routine press briefing on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that remarks made by the United States regarding Arvind Kejriwal's arrest are "unwarranted," and a strong protest has been lodged.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India's commitment to the rule of law, asserting that legal processes in the country are driven by this principle. He stated, "Anyone who shares similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty in appreciating this fact."
Highlighting India's pride in its independent and robust democratic institutions, Jaiswal reiterated the country's determination to protect them from any undue external influences.
"Yesterday India lodged its strong objection and protest with a senior official of the US embassy with regard to the comments made by the State Department. The recent remarks by the US state department are unwarranted. Any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is completely unacceptable. In India, legal processes are driven by rule of law. Anyone who has similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty in appreciating this fact. India is proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions. We are committed to protect them from any form of undue external influences," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
After India summoned a senior US diplomat to lodge a protest over remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, 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," he said.