Opposition parties stepped up the pressure on the government to press Germany to allow the return of two-year-old “Baby Ariha” to India, even as the child’s family and the Ministry of External Affairs prepare for an appeals process in the German courts.
On Wednesday, nearly 20 Members of Parliament — cutting across party lines — met Ariha’s mother Dhara Shah in Parliament, demanding that the government take up the case for the child’s return to India more urgently. The group met informally with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and asked for a formal meeting to discuss the case. The MPs, many of whom had earlier written a petition to German Ambassador in India Phillip Ackerman, also demanded that the case be taken up politically at the highest levels.
Also read: Explained | The diplomatic row over the repatriation of baby Ariha from Germany
