India's "Commitment" On Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya's "Biggest Fugitives" Video

Responding tangentially to the taunt by Lalit Modi, who said he and Vijay Mallya were the "two biggest fugitives" of India, the Ministry of External Affairs has said anyone wanted by the law will be brought back to the country so that they can "face trial". 

In an Instagram post on Monday, which was later taken down, Modi had posted a video of himself and Mallya in which he can be heard saying, "We are the two fugitives, the biggest fugitives of India."

The caption of the post also appeared to include a taunt. "Let me do something to break the internet down again. Something for you folks. Wat your heart out with envy (sic)," it read.

Modi (62) had left India in 2010 following allegations of large-scale tax evasion, money laundering and shady deals related to the Indian Premier League, which he had helped found. He was declared a fugitive economic offender in 2019. 

Mallya, 69, the former chairman of United Breweries and promoter of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, fled India in 2016 after allegations of fraud. The Indian government declared him a "fugitive economic offender" in 2019.  The businessman had defaulted on loans and owes banks in India approximately 9,000 crore. 

Modi's post had triggered criticism of the Indian government's handling of the extradition proceedings for the two men, who are based in the UK and whose social media profiles are peppered with photos and videos of them living it up. 

Asked about the post on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government is committed to bringing back all fugitives. 

"We remain fully committed that people who are fugitives, who are wanted by law in India, they return to the country. For this particular return, we are in talks with several governments and processes are on," he said. 

"In several of these cases, there are several layers of legalities involved. But we remain committed to bringing them back to the country so that they can face trial before the courts here," Jaiswal added.