INDIA said on Saturday (January 11) there was “no standoff” with Washington after it expelled a US diplomat in a bitter row over the arrest and strip search of an Indian consulate official in New York.
Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid’s comments came a day after New Delhi gave a US diplomat 48 hours to quit the country over the dispute that has seriously strained bilateral ties.
“There is no standoff between India and the US,” Khurshid told reporters, adding “if there are any issues” the countries will “sort them out mutually”.
Relations began fraying when Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested last month on charges of visa fraud involving her domestic servant and lying about how much she paid her.
Shortly before her indictment on Thursday (January 9), Washington granted the Indian officer – who has denied all charges – full diplomatic immunity, allowing her to return to India in what appeared to be a compromise worked out with New Delhi.
But the announcement late Friday (January 10) that India had ordered the US diplomat to leave in apparent reprisal for its envoy’s treatment in New York suggested New Delhi was not ready to be entirely forgiving.
The deeply unpopular Congress government, struggling to win back favour in general elections due by May, has been under heavy pressure to act tough with Washington as opposition politicians have pounced on US actions.
They have denounced the treatment of the Indian diplomat as a violation of national sovereignty and said the US should not be allowed to ride roughshod over Indian interests.
“Revenge expulsion”
News of the US embassy official's expulsion was splashed over newspaper front pages on Saturday along with photos of Khobragade arriving home in Delhi late Friday, her palms pressed together in a traditional Indian greeting.
The Indian Express newspaper said: “Delhi goes for revenge expulsion.”
The exact timing of the US diplomat’s departure from India was unclear as the US embassy was not returning phone calls.
“I am really thankful for all your support. My government will speak for me, my lawyer will speak for me,” Khobragade, 39, who left her husband and two children behind in the United States, told reporters on Saturday.
Khurshid, in other comments on Saturday, called it “unfortunate” that the diplomat “couldn’t complete her (US) tenure”.
The US said late Friday it “deeply regrets” India’s expulsion of the US official and wanted to mend a partnership Washington has seen as a potential bulwark against China’s growing might.
“We’re looking to move our relationship forward. We’re looking to move past this challenging time,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
US President Barack Obama had earlier called relations with India “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century”.
