The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that they were awaiting a response from the Hong Kong authorities on the request made by India for the provisional arrest of absconding billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi.
MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in his weekly briefing said that India and Hong Kong had signed an agreement for the surrender of fugitive offenders and that the Hong Kong authorities are examining India’s request.
“At this stage, I can only share that we have requested the Hong Kong authorities to surrender Nirav Modi based on the agreement for the surrender of fugitive offenders signed between India and Hong Kong in 1997,” Raveesh said.
“Our Mission in Hong Kong has informed that the Department of Justice in Hong Kong is still examining our request for the provisional order of Nirav Modi’s arrest. We are awaiting a response from the Hong Kong authorities,” he said.
Regarding Nirav Modi’s whereabouts, MEA said that they go by the investigator’s information and that the Indian authorities have learned that he could be in Hong Kong. On April 5, Minister of State for External Affairs, VK Singh stated this in Parliament.
He told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply, the Ministry has sought the provisional arrest of Nirav Deepak Modi by the government of Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region, the Peoples Republic of China, for which a request has been submitted to them on 23 March 2018.
To a specific question on whether Hong Kong has confirmed Nirav Modi’s presence, MEA said that they are still awaiting a response from the Hong Kong authorities.
“So far we have not received any information about Nirav Modi or about his arrest from the Hong Kong authorities,” said Raveesh Kumar.
Earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing had said that it was up to Hong Kong’s local administration to take a call on India’s request for Modi’s repatriation. (India Today)
