US questioned on silence over arrest of Pakistan’s opposition leaders while being vocal on similar cases in India

Washington, April 4

The US Department of State spokesperson Mathew Miller was put on the spot during a press briefing on Wednesday when a journalist questioned him on the state department taking a stand on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal but not doing the same on arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders.

Mathew Miller refused to categorise both cases into one and said that the US wanted to see everyone in Pakistan treated with consistent rule of law and human rights.

“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,” Miller said.

On Tuesday, highlighting on US, Germany and the UN envoys making political remarks over Indian politics after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar used the word “Maryada”, saying that we are sovereign countries and should not be interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad, Jaishankar emphasised that these are old and bad habits.

He further underscored that they have told the diplomats of these countries that India strongly objects to this. He said that other countries do not hold any right to comment on another country’s politics.

“We think this is not a good practice. And we would sincerely urge all countries in the world to say that you please, by all means, you can have your views about the world. But no country has the right to comment on another country’s politics, especially in situations like this,” he said.

Last week, US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller was asked about his response to India’s summoning US diplomat over comments on Kejriwal’s arrest and freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts, to which he said that they are following these actions closely.