PM Modi raises Ariha Shah case with Chancellor Merz, seeks speedy resolution

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of Ariha Shah, the five-year-old Indian girl placed in the care of German child services following allegations of abuse against her parents, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday and sought a speedy resolution of the matter.

The Indian side called for Ariha to be better exposed to Indian culture, her mother tongue and religion while in the care of German child services. The case of the child, who has been in foster care since September 2021, remains of the rare irritants in India-Germany relations.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri confirmed at a media briefing that Modi raised the issue with Merz when the two leaders met in Ahmedabad. “This is a very sensitive issue and we have been discussing it with the German side, both with the government in Berlin and with the embassy in New Delhi, for a long time,” he said.

“At one time, this was a legal issue, now we should approach it as a humanitarian issue. We are aware of the pain and difficulties of the family and we are trying to help them in every way,” Misri said, adding the focus is currently on ensuring that Ariha is raised in an “Indian environment”.

This includes allowing her to meet Indian people, participate in Indian festivals in Germany, and making arrangements for her to learn Hindi, Misri said, giving an assurance that India is committed to raise the matter at every level with the German government.

“We will continue following up this matter with the German government and will always be with the family. We don’t see it apart from the overall ties with Germany, it gets the same priority as other issues,” he said.

The German government has not agreed to several requests from New Delhi for Ariha to be allowed to return to India or to be placed in foster care in the country. The matter has also been raised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar with his German counterparts over the years and Modi had raised it with previous chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Save Ariha Team, a group of social workers campaigning for the repatriation of the girl, has called for Ariha to be taught Hindi or Gujarati and the Jain religion of her parents, Dhara and Bhavesh Shah. The parents are currently allowed to visit her twice a month and Indian officials have been provided consular access to her on five occasions.

Germany’s Jugendamt or Youth Welfare Office placed Ariha in foster care at the age of seven months after German authorities levelled serious allegations of abuse against the parents in 2021, but the charges were dropped in February 2022. Ariha’s aunt Kinjal Shah has claimed that the child is being held “against her will”.