Washington: The US on Thursday rejected India’s demands of dropping visa fraud charges against senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade and apologising for mistreating her, saying the allegations were “very serious” and she would not be allowed to go scot-free.
State Department spokesperson Marie Harf also made it clear that the immunity sought for 39-year-old Khobragade after her transfer to India’s Permanent Mission to the UN is “not retroactive”.
In Delhi, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said, “We will find a solution to the issue. “As we deal with each other we have to keep entire gamut of our bilateral relationship in mind,” Khurshid said, adding that it was important to preserve the relationship between India and the US.
The two sides had on Thursday discussed specific steps to resolve the situation during a telephone call made by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman to Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to follow up on the conversation Secretary of State John Kerry had with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday.
US President Barack Obama was also briefed after which the White House described the arrest as an “isolated incident” and hoped that the matter would not derail bilateral ties.
“We take these allegations very seriously. We’re not in any way walking back from those allegations or the charges. Again, this is really a law enforcement issue,” Harf said in response to a volley of questions on the issue.
The spokesperson replied in the negative on being asked whether the Deputy Consul General in New York, arrested on December 12, would be allowed to go “scot-free”. “I don’t know the details of the complaint, and I don’t know if even withdrawing the complaint, which I’m not saying anybody is considering would, in fact, drop the charge. That’s not something that’s even being considered,” Harf said.
“We certainly take these types of allegations very seriously though. It’s not a decision for us whether to prosecute or not,” Harf said.
Contradicting External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s remark on Thursday that the two sides were trying to lock a time for a conversation between him and Kerry, Harf said nothing was scheduled as of now. “No plans (for Kerry) to (call Khurshid),” she said.
“I mean, he (Kerry) is always open to, but I think there was some misreporting out there today that he maybe (or) was planning to, and that’s just not the case,” she said.
Khurshid had said, “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.” Kerry is on a year-end family vacation and would return to Washington after holidays, she said.
Meanwhile, protests continued in Hyderabad at the US Consulate for the second day on Thursday over the ill-treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
Raising slogans against United States, TDP and ABVP activists protested at the Consulate in Begumpet locality.
The protesters were removed from the place, police said.
Left workers and others, under the banner of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), held a protest at the Consulate on Thursday. (PTI)
