NEW DELHI: The US state department spokesperson on Monday addressed recent publications about democratic decline in India and reaffirmed New Delhi as an important strategic partner to Washington.
While responding to questions about allegations of democratic backsliding in India, Mathew Miller said, ‘India is the world’s largest democracy, it is an important strategic partner of the United States, and I expect that to remain true.’
Recently, Miller questioned the state department’s stance on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal, contrasting it with the lack of similar comments on the arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders.Miller stressed the importance of upholding consistent rule of law and human rights for all individuals in Pakistan.
Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED on allegations of money laundering related to the Delhi excise policy case has attracted significant attention.
In response to India’s summoning of a US diplomat over remarks concerning Kejriwal’s arrest and the freezing of Congress party bank accounts, Miller stated that they are closely monitoring these developments.
“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,” Miller added.
“And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” he stressed.Stating that India is proud of its “robust and independent” democratic institutions, the Ministry of External Affairs called the remarks by the US State Department on the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal “unwarranted”, adding that any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is “completely unacceptable.”
( with input from agencies
While responding to questions about allegations of democratic backsliding in India, Mathew Miller said, ‘India is the world’s largest democracy, it is an important strategic partner of the United States, and I expect that to remain true.’
Recently, Miller questioned the state department’s stance on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal, contrasting it with the lack of similar comments on the arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders.Miller stressed the importance of upholding consistent rule of law and human rights for all individuals in Pakistan.
Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED on allegations of money laundering related to the Delhi excise policy case has attracted significant attention.
In response to India’s summoning of a US diplomat over remarks concerning Kejriwal’s arrest and the freezing of Congress party bank accounts, Miller stated that they are closely monitoring these developments.
“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,” Miller added.
“And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” he stressed.Stating that India is proud of its “robust and independent” democratic institutions, the Ministry of External Affairs called the remarks by the US State Department on the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal “unwarranted”, adding that any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is “completely unacceptable.”
( with input from agencies