India, US have the maturity to handle sensitive issues: Anand Sharma

CHENNAI: Against the backdrop of the episode concerning Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma today said both India and the US had the "wisdom" and "maturity" to handle such "sensitive" issues.

"Both countries are democratic and have the wisdom and maturity to address these matters," Sharma told reporters here when asked whether trade relations between India and the United States would be affected due to the incident.

"There is a strategic partnership between the two largest democracies in the world... (India and US)," he said. "I am sure there will be an understanding (between the two countries), considering the sensitivity of the issue," he said.

Sharma later chaired a closed-door meeting with the top industrialists of Chennai. A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was today indicted for visa fraud and for making false statements by a grand jury in New York which held that the charges against her will remain even as she heads back to India after being accorded full diplomatic immunity.