Post date: Jan 10, 2014 7:39:27 PM
State Department says it hopes relations with India can be repaired following mutual removal of diplomats in New York and New Delhi.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 10, 2014) (STATE TV) - The U.S. State Department said on Friday (January 10) it hoped the mutual removal of an Indian diplomat from the United States and an American diplomat from India assuages the rift between the two countries following the arrest of a counselor to the Indian mission in New York on charges of visa fraud.
"We expect and hope that this will now come to closure, and the Indians will now take significant steps with us to improve our relationship, and return it to a more constructive place," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.Devyani Khobragade, who was deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested December 12 and charged with one count of visa fraud and another of making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper.
Her arrest set off protests in India amid disclosures that she was strip-searched on the day of her arrest. The dispute soured the broader U.S.-India bilateral relationship, leading to sanctions against American diplomats in New Delhi and the postponement of visits to India by senior U.S. officials and another by a U.S. business delegation.
"She is not permitted to return unless--, except to submit to the jurisdiction of the court," Psaki said of Khobragade.
Tit-for-tat withdrawals of embassy staff are common when countries become locked in diplomatic disputes.