Citizen arrested along with six Ukrainians for travelling from Myanmar without valid documents, is still in the courts, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday (November 10, 2026). The matter of Mathew Van Dyke, the U.S.
The MEA spokesperson refused to comment on remarks by Mr. Mr. Van Dyke was granted bail along with the others arrested and was allowed to leave the country last month. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor had raised the issue with the Indian government. In September, a special court granted bail to Mr. Mr.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested U.S. national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and six Ukrainian nationals on March 13, 2026 at different Indian airports, in connection with an alleged cross-border conspiracy involving Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups. Van Dyke, allowing him and the others to leave the country and return to India within 30 days. Van Dyke came back to Delhi on October 23 and appeared before the court. The same day, the court allowed him to return to the U.S. and extended permission for the six Ukrainians (who appeared via video conferencing) to remain outside India until February 24, 2027.
Van Dyke, that he had been arrested at Russia’s behest, threatening to “reveal shocking details” about his incarceration in Delhi’s Tihar jail for six months. Sharon Van Dyke, who campaigned for his release, U.S, according to his mother.
In a series of responses to Indian social media users on Tuesday (November 10), Mr. Van Dyke said he would return in February 2027 to appear in person even though the court suggested that he could attend the hearing via video from the U.S.. The government had come under criticism from the Opposition parties for diluting the charges against Mr. Van Dyke and for the National Investigation Agency to say it had no objection to those accused of suspected mercenary activities leaving the country. “Everyone going to non-junta areas in northwestern Myanmar goes through India. It happens every day,” Mr. Van Dyke claimed, calling for the case against him to be closed. In response to a question on social media put by The Hindu , Mr.
When asked MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the case is presently in the courts, adding that the government will “have to wait for what the courts have to say”. Van Dyke said he was “innocent” of any “anti-Indian” agenda, accepting however, that he had wrongly crossed over from Myanmar to Mizoram without valid permissions.
