India has protested America’s comments regarding the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the ‘freezing’ of Congress bank accounts. India’s Ministry of External Affairs termed America’s ‘prying’ repeatedly into India’s internal affairs as ‘unwanted’. Informed that, as a result, their ‘acceptability’ will decrease. It also said, in a tone of advice, “Other countries should respect India’s sovereignty.”
America has commented on Kejriwal’s arrest twice so far. The Joe Biden government had asked to ensure that Kejriwal gets a fair, transparent, and timely trial. As a result, Gloria Barbena, the acting assistant chief of the US Embassy in India, was summoned last Wednesday.
America was adamant in its position. When asked about the summoning of the acting assistant chief of the embassy, the spokesperson of the US office, Matthew Miller, reiterated his old statement about Kejriwal’s arrest. In his words, “America demands a transparent and free legal process in this case.” Not only that, Mathew expressed his opinion about Congress’s bank account being ‘frozen’.He said, “We are also aware of the allegations made by the Congress against the Income Tax Department of freezing several of their bank accounts. The Congress claims that this will make it difficult for them to campaign for the upcoming elections.”
India did not take this comment from the spokesperson of the US State Department well. A spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country, Randhir Jaiswal, called America’s comments “absurd” in a press conference. “Any such propaganda about our electoral and legal process is not acceptable in any way,” he said. Randhir also said, “India’s judicial system is governed only by the rule of law. India is proud of its independent and strong democracy. We are determined to protect our democratic rights from unwanted external influences.”
Not only in America, but Germany also opened up about Kejriwal’s arrest. Germany also commented on Kejri’s arrest, saying they hoped the “independence of the judiciary” and “fundamental democratic values” would apply to the trial of the Delhi Chief Minister. The Ministry of External Affairs summoned Georg Enzweiler, a senior diplomat at the German Embassy in India, for these comments.
