Varying stance by US on arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, Imran Khan

New Delhi, April 4

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The US State Department was caught in an awkward position during a media briefing on Wednesday when asked why has Washington given “strong support” to the imprisoned Delhi CM Arvind Kjeriwal but not to the hundreds of political prisoners, including former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, languishing for months in Pakistani jails.

“I would not agree with that characterisation,” replied US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller but made a generalised statement on Pakistani political prisoners although he had twice mentioned Kejriwal by name and had also spoken on the freezing of Congress’ bank accounts by the tax authorities. “We have made it 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,” he added. The US State Department had earlier underlined the need for “a fair, transparent and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal”. In a second response, Miller had said Washington was “closely” following the Delhi CM’s arrest. The MEA had summoned a US diplomat to lodge a protest over the remark.

On the Congress issue, he had said, “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.”