After Germany and the US, the United Nations has been drawn into commenting on the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of Congress accounts by the income tax department.

Asked how the United Nations secretary-general perceived the "political unrest" in India in the context of the two developments, the spokesperson for the office Stephane Dujarric said: "We very much hope that in India, that in any country, that is having elections, everyone’s rights are protected including political and civil rights and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair.’’

For nearly 24 hours after Dujarric said this at Friday’s briefing, India did not react to the comment.

In the case of Germany and the US, the external affairs ministry had summoned their diplomats and pushed back arguing that such interference in domestic politics was uncalled for. In the case of the US, it proved to be counter-productive as Washington stuck to its guns, drawing further attention to India’s domestic politics overseas.