India says LAC stable, rejects US court summons to officials as false and malicious

The Ministry of External Affairs held a press conference on Tuesday. Questions were asked on the visits of the Chinese and Nepali prime ministers to India and on the summons sent by a US court to Indian officials. Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded on each issue.

On the border dispute with China, Jaiswal said stability prevailed on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He said tension had arisen when a patrol strayed from its fixed and traditional routes.

According to the ministry, India is continuously using the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination to maintain stability on the border. High-level commander-level flag meetings are also part of this effort. The ministry also said peace on the border is the first condition for normal relations between the two countries.

On reports of Chinese vloggers live-streaming from the slums of Dhaka, Jaiswal said, "We have seen the media reports on this. Such attempts to show any country in a negative light are harmful." On attempts to bribe foreigners to make Dhaka look like Delhi, he said spreading false information damages the credibility of those doing it and of those behind them. He said he appealed to the authorities concerned to act against such people.

On the US court summons, the ministry said it rejects the fake and malicious allegations and baseless lawsuits against its senior officials. According to the ministry, a request to serve court papers in India can be made only through India's official central authority, the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Last month, the US State Department sent the Indian government a federal court summons. The summons relates to a civil suit filed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, whom the Ministry of Home Affairs has declared a terrorist. Pannun's suit names several Indian officials, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Samant Goel, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing.

On the US midterm elections, Jaiswal said the American elections are an internal matter of that country. He also reiterated that India-US relations enjoy bipartisan support. He said India will continue to work to strengthen these relations and its broad global strategic partnership.

Asked about a Quad summit, Jaiswal said, "You must have noticed that several high-level Quad events have taken place recently. Our External Affairs Minister also held a meeting during the G-20 meeting in Atlanta. We will keep you informed about further high-level Quad meetings, including summit-level meetings."

On the Nepali prime minister's visit to India, Jaiswal said, "As we said earlier, we have invited the Nepali prime minister to India. The two sides are in talks over the visit."