Khobragade Case: US Envoy Nancy Powell meets Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh

NEW DELHI: US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell met Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh following, what sources at the Ministry of External Affairs said, New Delhi’s stand that it cannot be business as usual without expeditiously addressing the row over a visafraud case filed against diplomat Devyani Khobragade. Singh conveyed India’s sentiments to Powell during the meeting, these sources said on Tuesday.

American embassy sources told ET that given the “extremely sensitive” nature of the matter, they were not in a position to divulge details about the meeting. Officials of both sides are working on the diplomatic and judicial aspects of the issue to arrive at an amicable resolution, sources said.

Meanwhile , India-born US prosecutor Preet Bhararaon Tuesday wrote to a US judge that his department was not seeking any extension to the deadline for filing charges against Khobragade, who was arrested in December in New York. This came after Khobragade’s lawyer Daniel Arshack filed a request with magistrate judge Sarah Netburn of the Southern District Court of New York to postpone the preliminary hearing date, currently scheduled for Jan 13, and the indictment deadline by 30 days.

Khobragade has requested for the extension saying the “pressure of the impending” deadline is interfering with the ability of the parties to have meaningful discussions on the case. Sources at the foreign ministry said they hope Khobragade to get her accreditation card for her new post in India’s UN mission before January 12 as that would give her diplomatic immunity from appearance in court. Khobragade was India’s consul general in New York when she was arrested.

Consular officials don’t get full diplomatic immunity, the reason cited by the US for arresting her.