New Delhi, Mar 28 (UNI) The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that recent remarks by the US State Department on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest are "unwarranted," and any such external imputation on India's electoral and legal processes is "completely unacceptable".
Addressing a weekly press conference, Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that in India, legal processes are driven only by the rule of law, and anyone who has a similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty appreciating this fact.
On Wednesday, India lodged a strong objection and protest with the senior official from the US embassy with regard to the comments made by the US State Department.
"India is proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions. We are committed to protecting them from any form of undue external influence," he said.
The spokesperson said, "Mutual respect and understanding are the foundation of international relations, and states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others."
On the Baltimore Bridge Collapse incident, Jaiswal said of the 21 crew members, 20 are Indians, and all of them are in good health.
"Our embassies are in close touch with the Indians on board and also the local authorities in this matter," he said.
On Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's visit to India, Jaiswal said, "The visit of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister is happening at the invitation of EAM (External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar), and he will have a bilateral engagement with EAM where they will review the intergovernmental commission that was held earlier".
Jaiswal informed that they will also discuss global and regional issues of common concern, and there are several other engagements also lined up for the Ukrainian Foreign Minister."
On the issue of Arunachal Pradesh, MJaiswal said, "Our position on the matter of Arunachal Pradesh has been made very clear time and again... China may repeat its baseless claims as many times as they want. That is not going to change our position. Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India.". UNI JA AKS SSP