Devyani Khobragade to push for Kerala's interests in her new role

KOCHI: Devyani Khobragade, whose arrest and prosecution for alleged visa violation of her housemaid when she was deputy consul general in New York led to a diplomatic standoff between India and the US, has been appointed director (state governments) in the ministry of external affairs.

The 1999 batch IFS officer will use her expertise in international relations to promote Kerala's economic interests overseas and help the state sort out thorny issues related to Malayali workers in the Gulf countries and elsewhere.

"Each IFS official has to choose a state and work with it to help them in sorting out their hurdles and encourage relationship beyond cultural interaction. I chose Kerala and have already interacted with the state government officials including chief minister Oommen Chandy and executives of non-resident Keralites' affairs (Norka) department," Devyani told TOI.

Devyani, who was in Kerala recently, said she hoped to use her "understanding of MEA's facilitation through its Missions abroad for the benefit of Kerala". She said Norka and state government officials expressed interest in developing core sectors through investments in electronic industry, R&D, food processing sector, medical tourism and Ayush.

"This new division proposes to help states become more active as they enter into sister city agreements or development activity agreements with foreign cities and agencies. We live in an age of cooperative federalism, where national, state, and local governments collectively solve common problems," she said.

Kochi Corporation had signed a MoU with the French city of Lorient to promote heritage conservation and tourism here. "As of now, there is not much progress between Kochi and Lorient. We have already started looking into how to take this forward," Devyani said.