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The President and CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Mukesh Aghi acknowledged concerns surrounding the treatment of Indian nationals while being deported back to India.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, he said that the Indians should "not be handcuffed and chained", but also emphasised that the US authorities are "simply following legal procedures" without making exceptions for anyone. "I empathize that they should not be handcuffed and chained as they're moving," he said. "But you have to understand there's a law and the example is Strauss-Kahn, the IMF chief who was arrested in New York City and he was running for President of France. He was arrested. He was put in handcuffs. Why? Because that's the law?." "So I think if there's a law, they're following that law and they're not making exceptions to anybody," he added. He also referred to efforts made by the Ministry of External Affairs to the US and affirmed hope that their will be some "empathy and sympathy" during the deportation process. "The MEA has made an appeal and others talked to it. Hopefully, there'll be some empathy and sympathy towards the process," he said. On February 5, the US Air Force plane carrying Indian citizens who allegedly illegally migrated to the US arrived in Punjab's Amritsar. During the recent special briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, ahead of Prime Minister Modi's overseas visit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri responded to queries regarding the potential returnees from the US. Being asked about the number of Indians who would be deported by US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the number of flights and returnees will depend on the number of 'confirmed people.' "It's hard to give an exact number because we can't confirm anybody as an Indian national until we check that", Misri said. "In recent conversations, when we have sought details about potential returnees from the United States, we have been told that there are up to 487 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders with the US authorities. We have sought details with regard to 298 individuals. We received this a short while ago. We are checking on this and will revert to our US counterparts on these issues. About the others we have not been provided details", he added. Foreign Secretary also noted, "We have been very transparent on this with US counterparts." (ANI)
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