India says 'disappointed' at US re-indictment of diplomat
NEW DELHI: India's government on Saturday said it was "disappointed"
by new US charges against an Indian diplomat for visa fraud involving
employment of a housekeeper and warned the move could reignite a bitter
row between the countries.
The government's spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin, said India was
"disappointed... the United States Department of Justice chose to obtain
a second indictment" against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade even
though a US judge threw out similar charges earlier this week because
she had diplomatic immunity.
"Any measures consequent to this decision in the US will
unfortunately impact upon efforts on both sides to build the India-US
strategic partnership, to which both sides are committed," the Indian
spokesman warned.
A New York grand jury on Friday re-indicted the Indian diplomat
accused of mistreating her housekeeper on two counts of visa fraud and
making false statements.Khobragade, who has since returned to India, was
arrested on December 12 outside her children's school and later
strip-searched, enraging the Indian government and some of the Indian
public.
The diplomatic row between the two countries, which had embraced each
other as strategic partners, strained ties and fanned resentment on both
sides.
-AFP
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