US brings up Arvind Kejriwal again after MEA summoned diplomat over remarks on Delhi CM’s arrest

After the Ministry of External Affairs officials summoned Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi to lodge a strong protest against a US State Department official’s remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest, Washington again stressed on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Washington on Wednesday stressed that it encourages fair, transparent, timely legal processes. It said that they don’t think anyone should object to that. 

Responding to a question during the State Department briefing over India summoning Berbena earlier in the day as well as Congress’ allegations of the freezing of its accounts, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.”

“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.

India had earlier responded to the US diplomat’s remark and asked it to be respectful of the “sovereignty and internal affairs of others”. "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 MEA on Wednesday summoned Berbena and the meeting lasted for more than 30 minutes. The US diplomat had said, "We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal."

This remark came after a senior German diplomat was summoned by the MEA for Germany's foreign affairs spokesperson’s remark expressing hope that the "standards regarding the independence of the judiciary and fundamental democratic principles" would be upheld in Kejriwal's case.

"...Like anyone facing accusations, Mr Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes that he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions. The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to him [sic]," the spokesperson had said.