Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has been exempted by a United States court from appearing in person for pre-trial processes in the case filed against her on visa fraud charges, her lawyer said on Monday.
India is making every attempt to ensure that the United States drops all charges against IFS officer Devyani Khobragade.
India's demand for dropping of all charges against its former Deputy Consular General in New York Devyani Khobragade will come for discussion during the proposed Indo-US dialogue to resolve the issues arising out of her arrest in the US, the government said on Thursday.
The Devyani Khobragade row, India-Pakistan bickering over Afghanistan and a nightclub act by two diplomats were some of the issues discussed at one of the sessions at Jaipur Lit Fest, reports Sanchari Bhattacharya.
Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs in the Obama administration, has strongly asserted that India's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine and Moscow's annexation of Crimea should not be conflated with the row over diplomat Devyani Khobragade.
The United States has voiced hope that the ongoing crisis with India over the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in December will come to a closure and expressed its wish to get back to business and take bilateral ties forward.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who expressed regret over the arrest and strip-search of Devyani Khobragade, was aware of the senior Indian diplomat's arrest.
While taking strong exception to the arrest and humiliation of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Uttar Pradesh's all powerful Samajwadi Party leader and Urban Development Minister Azam Khan has offered her a party ticket to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
'...to prevent this episode from disrupting ongoing cooperation.' 'The discovery of this plot had the potential to derail much of what has been achieved in the relationship during this administration's tenure -- I don't think that fact has been sufficiently appreciated in India.'
'This incident offers ammunition to those inside the US government and elsewhere who question the wisdom of trusting India, so it will have a lasting consequence no matter how it is managed.'
The collegium, in a meeting held on Monday, approved the proposal for elevation of nine judicial officers as judges in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
Pakistan has denied visa to senior diplomat Jayant Khobragade who was set to be appointed as acting head of Indian high commission in Islamabad.
The Barack Obama administration has expressed "surprise" over the dismissal of a federal indictment against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the visa fraud case.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's status as a "Special Advisor" to the UN entitled her to diplomatic immunity from prosecution at the time of her arrest last year on visa fraud charges, according to a letter from the United Nations.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father Uttam Khobragade today said here that re-indictment of his daughter clearly showed that the prosecutor had "no respect" for their own law.
The Shiv Sena on Monday slammed diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father Uttam Khobragade, a former Indian Administrative Service officer, for calling Marathi media casteist after being confronted with a query about her flat in the controversial Adarsh housing society.
The government is now mulling the possibilities of increasing the reserve stock upto 1000 MT to meet any adverse situations, authorities said.
The lawyer for a domestic help employed by Devyani Khobragade on Thursday said it is frustrating and disappointing that the focus in the case has shifted from the crimes that were committed against her client to the Indian diplomat.
The Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, went into damage-control mode on Thursday following the arrest of Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, in connection with an alleged fraudulent visa application for a domestic worker.
The State Department says it informed the Indian embassy in Washington, DC in Deptember about the troubles that awaited diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was arrested on the charges of alleged fraud in New York on December 12. A media statement issued by M Sridharan, the Counsellor (Press, Information and Culture), at the embassy clarifies the sequence of events.
The United States on Wednesday said employment of domestic workers will now be on agenda for the bilateral talks with India with which it is in conversation to "determine the way forward" in resolving the 14-day-long diplomatic row.
The Khobragade family is relieved that their daughter will be back in India on Friday and believes that the US grand jury verdict that indicts her on charges of visa fraud and submission of false documents is meaningless because it is based on false charges.
There is no chance of the case against Devyani Khobaragade being dropped, but a plea deal is possible, which could avoid a jail term for the Indian diplomat, sources in the US government tell Rediff.com's George Joseph in New York.
"Something will happen", said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday on the prospects of an early resolution of the stand-off arising out of the arrest of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the United States.
This is not the first time IFS officer Devyani Khobragade has found herself under the scanner, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
In a day of dramatic developments, the Indian diplomat is indicted on two charges, but she will leave the US. 'I will come out of this vindicated,' Dr Khobragade tells Rediff.com.
Sources said no final decision has been taken as yet and it is very possible that a high-level intervention might be required to take a final call on resolving the issue.
The American media, which demanded action by the Obama administration when a junior consular staff was detained in Lahore for killing two men, has attacked the Indian government for siding with its diplomat after her arrest and ill-treatment.
India on Friday expelled senior American diplomat within hours of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade being asked to leave the United States after her indictment in a visa fraud case for which she was arrested nearly a month ago, triggering strong reaction from the government here.
Reflecting anger in the government, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Tuesday termed as "despicable" and "barbaric" the treatment meted out to India's Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade in New York.
The United Nations on Friday said it has received official notification from India to register diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was arrested on visa fraud charges, as a member of the country's Permanent Mission and the request will be processed according to "standard procedures".
India on Friday spoke in conciliatory language on the issue of its senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade case, saying that it was important to "preserve" the "valuable" bilateral relationship even as the United States ruled out the demand for dropping of the charges against her.
Uttam Khobragade, former IAS officer and father of Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, on Satyurday alleged her daughter's former maid Sangeeta Richards could be a "CIA agent".
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today met his United States counterpart John Kerry in Montreux for the first time after a row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat as they committed to move forward bilateral ties and return to close partnerships on strategic issues.
Reacting strongly to the second indictment against its diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the United States, India on Saturday said it was an "unnecessary" step and any measure consequent to the decision will "unfortunately" impact efforts on both sides to build a strategic partnership between India and the US.
The office of American prosecutor Preet Bharara, whose decision to charge Devyani Khobargade on visa fraud touched off a furor in India, on Friday refused to comment on India's strong response to his statement.
A group of community leaders met Dr Devyani Khobragade on Monday at the Indian consulate in New York and offered the support of the people.
The United States o Friday said senior Indian diplomat 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.
An online White House petition demanding the Obama administration drop the visa fraud case against Devyani Khobragade has been launched in Washington, DC by a group of Indian-Americans who said the senior Indian diplomat's public humiliation hurts the sentiments of the community.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances