Post date: Dec 27, 2013 12:13:26 PM
Indian politicians condemn the U.S. for ill-treating its diplomat, Devyani Khobragade and suggest to adopt a tit for tat policy even as newspaper reports indicate that she had immunity at the time of arrest.
NEW DELHI, INDIA (DECEMBER 27, 2013) ((ANI) - Indian politicians on Friday (December 27) condemned the U.S. for ill-treating its diplomat, Devyani Khobragade and suggested to adopt a tit for tat policy even as newspaper reports indicate that she had immunity at the time of arrest.
Meanwhile, India said on Saturday that it had transferred the diplomat at the centre of a row with the United States to its U.N. delegation, a move that it hopes will give her protection from prosecution for visa fraud and underpaying a maid.Whether the accreditation of Devyani Khobragade as a member of India's U.N. mission leads to a way out of the dispute could depend on the U.S. State Department approving her transfer.
India's ambassador to the United Nations, Asoke Mukherji, said he had written to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informing him of the 39-year-old diplomat's transfer.
Lawmaker of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sitaram Yechury questioned the U.S. for its brazen act of humiliating Khobragade.
"Why are the U.S. authorities emboldened to do such brazen things such as violate the diplomatic immunity and to take such action? The issue of how household maids are treated, what should be their salary, that is definitely a legitimate matter and that is something we have been raising for a long time but that should not be confused with the manner in which a diplomat, enjoying diplomatic immunity has been treated by the U.S. authorities," he said.
Khobragade was arrested on December 12 and released on a $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to charges of visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper, also an Indian.
At the time of her arrest Khobragade was serving as deputy consul general in New York, a role which affords less diplomatic protection from U.S. law. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Meanwhile, a leader of Communist Party of India (CPI), Atul Anjan said that the country should adopt a tit for tat policy when it comes to ill treatment of its diplomats.
"India should act in the same manner with those countries who mistreat Indian diplomats in their countries. This can act as a deterrent, according to me," said Anjan.
In an unusual move, the United States has flown the family of the housekeeper,Sangeeta Richards, out of India.
Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Wednesday Richards' family had been brought to the United States after legal efforts had begun inIndia "to silence her, and attempts were made to compel her to return to India."
India is demanding that all charges against Khobragade are dropped, and political parties preparing for an election next May have tried to out do each other in their calls for retaliatory action against the United States.