NEW DELHI, Jan 10: Indo-US diplomatic ties suffered another blow today with India expelling a senior US diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade hours earlier after she had been indicted by a jury in New York in a visa fraud case.
An unnamed Director-rank American diplomat from the US Embassy was given “a little more than 48 hours” to leave India even as Khobragade was on a flight home nearly a month after she was arrested and strip searched for allegedly underpaying her maid, Sangeeta Richard.
Arrest of Khobragade had led to tense diplomatic stand- off between the two countries which saw the US finally approving her accreditation to the UN on Wednesday which gave her full immunity against partial immunity she had in her position as Deputy Consul General at the time of her arrest.
Khobragade was told by the US to leave that country immediately after India refused to waive her diplomatic immunity to face trial. She boarded a flight to India last night.
In fast retaliation, New Delhi ordered the expulsion of an American diplomat of similar rank who was involved in arranging for the “evacuation” of three members of the maid’s family from India two days before Khobragade was arrested.
Refraining from using the term “expulsion”, official sources said here that the US Embassy has been asked to “withdraw” one of its diplomats.
Government has “reasons to believe that the diplomat is closely involved in the processes relating to the Khobragade case and subsequent unilateral action by the US,” the sources said without divulging the name of the American diplomat.
The diplomat was understood to be closely involved in the “evacuation” of the family of Sangeeta, whose husband and two children were flown to the US with tickets issued by the official travel agency of the US Embassy. The diplomat is believed to have also signed the tax exemption for the air tickets using his diplomatic card.
India’s tit-for-tat action is only the second instance of a US diplomat being expelled, the first instance being expulsion of George Griffin, then political Counsellor, 33 years ago. That was in retaliation against similar action being taken by the US against Prabhakar Menon, an Indian diplomat.
It is understood that it was always the effort of the Government to bring back Khobragade, who had surrendered her passport after the arrest and was out on a bail of USD 250,000, through G-1 visa route which would have given her full immunity.
Meanwhile, the charges against Khobragade will remain pending until such time as she can be brought to Court to face the charges, either through a waiver of immunity or her return to the US in a non-immune status which were make her liable to arrest.
Meanwhile, Devyani Khobragade, who was today indicted for visa fraud and making false statements by a grand jury in the US, returned here tonight amidst an emotional reunion with her family.
The United Airlines flight carrying Khobragade landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 9.40 pm and she came out of the terminal at 10.40 pm, her father Uttam Khobragade said.
“She is not depressed. She is fine”, Devyani’s father told as he received his 39-year-old daughter at the airport along with officials of External Affairs Ministry.
Uttam Khobragade said he was “grateful to everyone for supporting her daughter”.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade, was arrested on December 12 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond.
The diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats.
Meanwhile, the United States today said in Washington, Devyani Khobragade, who returned to New Delhi, no longer enjoys immunity and she and Indian government were told that an arrest warrant might be issued against her.
“Prior to her (Devyani Khobragade) departure, it was conveyed to her and to the Government of India that she is not permitted to return to the United States except to submit to the jurisdiction of the court.
“Her name would be placed in visa and immigration lookout systems to prevent the routine issuance of any future visa and upon her departure a warrant may be issued for her arrest”, the State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, told reporters.
Khobragade’s departure from the US, she said, does not change the charges against her.
On Thursday, she was indicted in a New York court on two counts of visa fraud and misrepresentation of facts.
“The charges remain in place. There are processes that are standard processes in each of these cases, which we were abiding by throughout this process,” the State Department spokesperson insisted.
The United States “deeply regretted” that India felt it necessary to expel an American diplomat after senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade was asked to leave the country following her indictment in a visa fraud case.
“We deeply regret that the Indian government felt it was necessary to expel one of our diplomatic personnel,” Jen Psaki said.
“I can confirm that a US official accredited to the (American) Mission in India will be leaving post at the request of the Government of India”, Psaki said.
The spokesman said “this has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship” and the US expected that “this relationship will not come to a closure and India will take “significant steps” to improve the ties and return to a more “constructive place”.
“We expect and hope that this will not come to closure, and the Indians will now take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place,” the spokesperson said. (PTI)
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