US statement on Arvind Kejriwal unwarranted, legal process driven only by rule of law: MEA.

US State Department’s statement on the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was unwarranted, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. A day after India summoned acting US deputy ambassador Gloria Berbena to address concerns regarding comments made by the US State Department over the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the ministry of external affairs maintained the same stance and said US’ comments on the issue were unwarranted. “Yesterday India lodged a strong objection and protest with a senior official of the US embassy with regard to the comments made by the US State Department. The recent remarks by the state department are unwarranted. Any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is completely unacceptable. In India, legal processes are driven only by the 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,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the weekly briefing of the ministry. After India’s summons to Gloria on the issue, the US again reiterated on Wednesday that it called for a fair, transparent and timely legal process. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.” Mutual respect and understanding form the foundation of international relations, the MEA spokesperson added in response to questions on the US’s repeated remarks on Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate which is probing the money laundering case in connection with Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor police created a ripple globally as the United States and Germany commented on the arrest. The external affairs ministry gave an earful to both of them reminding them that it was India’s judicial process. Earlier, the MEA summoned the German embassy’s deputy chief of mission Georg Enzweiler and conveyed India’s strong protest at the remarks.