US Comments on Kejriwal's Arrest but not on Pakistan; 'Won't Agree With...', says State Dept

US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller defended his stance on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but not on the arrest of Pakistani opposition leaders. Miller stated that the US wants to see everyone in Pakistan treated with respect for human rights, consistent with the rule of law.

New Delhi: The US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller during a press briefing on Thursday was put in a very odd position when a journalist questioned him on State Department commenting on the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but not doing the same on the arrest of the Pakistani opposition leaders.

When asked as to why so a strong position for Indian opposition and nothing for the Pakistani political prisoners, Miller said, “I would not agree with that characterization. We have made clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights, as is our position with respect to any country in the world”.

Delhi CM Kejriwal was detained by the federal probe agency on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government. The Delhi CM is in judicial custody till April 15.

On Tuesday, in a strongly worded statement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cautioned the international community against unwarranted political commentary on India's internal matters, stressing that any such interference would be met with a "very strong reply."

"Somebody asked a person from the UN (about Kejriwal's arrest), and he gave some reply. But in other cases, I would say very frankly these are old habits, these are bad habits," Jaishankar said.

He added, “There is a certain 'maryada' (restraint) among countries. We are sovereign countries, we should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs, we should not be passing comments about each other's politics."

Jaishankar further said that “if foreign country comments on India's politics they will get a very strong reply from us, and that is what has happened." "...we sincerely urge all the countries in the world that by all means you have your views about the world, but no country has the right to comment on another country's politics especially in situations like this," Jaishankar said.

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