India summons German envoy over baby girl Ariha Shah placed in foster care

Ariha Shah was placed in the custody of Germany’s Jugendamt or Youth Welfare Office in September 2021 after she sustained an accidental injury

NEW DELHI: India summoned German ambassador Philipp Ackermann this week and sought the early return of Ariha Shah, a two-year-old Indian girl who has been in foster care in Berlin for more than 20 months.

New Delhi: Dhara Shah, whose baby girl Ariha Shah has been living in a foster care in Berlin for over 20 months, at Parliament House complex during the Monsoon session in New Delhi (PTI)

Shah was placed in the custody of Germany’s Jugendamt or Youth Welfare Office in September 2021 after she sustained an accidental injury. Her continued presence in foster care has become an irritant in bilateral relations.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India accords high priority to the case. “We believe that at a minimum, the child’s cultural rights and her rights as an Indian are being infringed upon by her being placed under German foster care,” he told a weekly media briefing.

“The German ambassador to India was summoned earlier this week and our concerns were clearly conveyed to him. We have also asked for early return of the child to India. We will continue to press the German authorities on this matter,” he said.

India has pressed Germany on the early return of the baby, saying it is important for the child to be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment. German authorities have said the child was placed in foster care after her Indian parents allegedly harassed her.

In December 2022, external affairs minister S Jaishankar raised the issue with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and conveyed India’s concerns over the baby.