India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) emphasized on Friday that Indian nationals living abroad are expected to adhere to the laws and regulations of their host countries, following reports of Indian students facing arbitrary deportation and detention in the United States for their involvement in Palestine solidarity protests.
This statement comes in the context of two notable cases: Ranjani Srinivasan, a U.S.-based Indian scholar who sought refuge in Canada after her visa was revoked, and Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar detained by U.S. immigration authorities.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, addressed the situation during the weekly media briefing, noting that neither Srinivasan nor Suri had approached Indian missions in the U.S. for assistance.
“We are not aware of her contacting the consulate or our embassy for any help. We only came to know about her departure through media reports. Through the media reports, we understand that she had gone to Canada,” Jaiswal said regarding Srinivasan.
Similarly, on Suri’s arrest, he remarked, “We are given to understand through media reports that this particular individual has been detained. Neither the U.S. government nor this individual has approached us or the embassy.”
Ranjani Srinivasan, a doctoral candidate in urban planning at Columbia University, was forced to self-deport after her visa was revoked due to allegations of her involvement in activities supporting Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which led to the cancellation of her PhD enrollment.
Meanwhile, Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was detained by immigration authorities.
However, on Thursday evening, the Eastern District of Virginia Court intervened, ordering that Suri “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.
Jaiswal underscored the sovereignty of nations in managing visa and emigration policies, stating, “When it comes to visa and emigration policy, it is something of a sovereign function. We expect that when foreign nationals come into India, they abide by our laws and customs and similarly it is our expectation that when Indian nationals are abroad, they must also comply with local laws and regulations.”
This reflects the MEA’s stance that Indian nationals are responsible for navigating the legal frameworks of the countries they reside in.
Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu, commenting on X: “Government washes its hands off students prosecuted for protests in the US. MEA says it is ‘important for Indian students in the US to comply with local laws’. The US Judge stays the deportation of an Indian at Georgetown U.”
 emphasized on Friday that Indian nationals living abroad are expected to adhere to the laws and regulations of their host countries, following reports of Indian students facing arbitrary deportation and detention in the United States for their involvement in Palestine solidarity protests.){kind=link}