Case against Devyani Khobragade be dropped, says Indian government

NEW DELHI: India today demanded that the case against its senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade, arrested and strip searched in New York on charges of visa fraud, should be dropped unconditionally.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said he had received a call from his American counterpart John Kerry last night but he was not available at that time to take it and that is the reason the US Secretary of State talked to the National Security Advisor.

"I was not available when John Kerry called. We are trying to lock a time for a call this evening or may be tomorrow. Kerry is in the Philippines and there is a huge time difference," he said.

Though Khurshid said he was not available to take Kerry's call, speculation is that the call was not taken by the minister to show India's unhappiness over the case against its diplomat and the way she was treated.

Noting that the case (against Khobragade) does not "deserve to be pursued" and should be withdrawn unconditionally, he said, "Our relationship has a lot of investment, it is an irreversible matter and we have to deal with it sensibly," the Minister said.

Kerry had last night called up National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and expressed regret over the treatment meted out to Khobragade.

A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested on December 12 on visa fraud charges as she was dropping her daughter to school and released on a $250,000 bond only after pleading not guilty in court.

The ill-treatment of its diplomat evoked a sharp reaction from India which initiated a slew of steps to downgrade the privileges enjoyed by the US diplomats and their families including withdrawing airport passes and stopping import clearances.

The Minister, who refused to comment on federal prosecutor Preet Bharara's statement defending the arrest and strip-search of Khobragade, said he would not react to an individual's opinion.

Khurshid asserted, "This is not a case that deserves treating her like a common criminal...Our responsibility is to ensure dignity of the officer is preserved. We are not putting any terms except humane and responsible response to something of concern to us."