Even as efforts are underway for resolution of the row involving Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, her father on Tuesday led a protest march outside the American consulate in Mumbai, terming the United States administration's action against her as "illegal".
India and the US are in "conversations" to resolve the standoff over diplomat Devyani Khobragade, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said as he described the US as a valuable partner and asked it to "understand the value" of the partnership.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance and the United Workers Congress have called for an International Day of Action to support Sangeeta Richard, who had been hired by Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade as a domestic help and babysitter.
'When all the facts are known, if they ever are, it will likely turn out that both Ms Khobragade and Ms Richard might have been at fault and so too might both governments be faulted, the US for a needlessly aggressive approach in the first place and India for its ham-handed response in the early stages of the affair,' says Rupa Subramanya.
'If at all,' says Suhasini Haidar, Foreign Affairs Editor, CNN-IBN, 'Devyani Khobragade is to avoid facing a full trial, the process of that negotiation must start immediately, for which the current acrimonious atmosphere must be improved. It is no more than the US was willing to do for Raymond Davis; the Italian government for its sailors; and India for Captain Sunil James and Vijayan in Togo. Devyani Khobragade is not accused of charges anywhere as serious they were, and whether Preet Bharara's office recognises it or not, she is a diplomat who represents a proud country that has taken the insult to her as a personal insult to the country.'
The Indian government is fuming. Many serving and retired diplomats are anguished. The public arrest of Indian Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade in New York has triggered an 'unprecedented' chain of events. Sheela Bhatt reports
India and the United States may be moving towards a resolution of the stand-off over senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade's case with the envoy getting exemption from personal appearance in a New York Court hearing visa fraud charges against her even as she got her accreditation to the United Nations headquarters.
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The case of Devyani Khobragade, a top Indian diplomat accused of fraud by her domestic help, is the third instance where maids working for diplomats at the Indian consulate General in New York have complained against their employers.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on Friday asserted that the charges against her in a US court are "false and baseless" and the stand taken by her and the Indian government in the case will be "vindicated".
More than 20 days after it was submitted by the United Nations, the United States continues to review the visa application of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, which would give her full diplomatic immunity.
'Only my friends know how I live here in Manhattan, saving every penny... Life in New York has not been not easy for me,' Devyani Khobragade told friends and colleagues.
S Jaishankar, the new Indian ambassador to the United States, on Thursday met top officials of the State Department to convey India's strong protest over the arrest of its senior diplomat in New York over visa fraud charges, even though she had diplomatic immunity.
The Government of India and the Indian community in the United States have strongly condemned the arrest of Dr Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York. Some activists blamed the Indian government's failure, claiming that the issue with the domestic help, Sangeeta Richard, was not handled properly though the Indian authorities had faced two similar cases in New York earlier.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, arrested last week in New York on charges of visa fraud, was not subject to cavity search, as being alleged, the US Marshals Services has claimed.
Upset over the Devyani Khobragade episode, India on Wednesday raised with the United States its concerns over "trafficking" visas issued to family members of Sangita Richard, the absconding maid of the Indian diplomat whose arrest had triggered a row between the two countries.
US diplomats and their families in India will not be able to avail special treatment at the airports from Thursday night when the deadline expires for surrendering their special passes, as part of government's retaliatory action against the treatment meted out to diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
The father of the Indian woman diplomat, arrested on visa fraud charges in New York, on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and was assured of the government's support.
India has informed the United States that Devyani Khobragade was accredited to the United Nations as a member of the country's delegation to the general assembly before her arrest in a visa fraud case.
Devyani Khobragade, deputy consul general at the Indian consulate in New York, was arrested on charges that she allegedly presented fraudulent documents to the United States State Department in support of a visa application for an Indian national employed as a babysitter and housekeeper at her home in Manhattan.
The United States has said it is focused on moving forward its relationship with India and asserted that the legal procedure against diplomat Devyani Khobragade is separate from the diplomatic process.
The United States has said that in-person registration of domestic workers of foreign diplomats would be mandatory, an apparent fallout of the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade over alleged misrepresentation of the salary paid to her maid.
Senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was today indicted for visa fraud and making false statements but can leave the US as she has been accorded diplomatic immunity.
Protestors outside the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, California, tell Rediff.com's Ritu Jha that they are outraged because nobody is speaking for the rights of Sangeeta Richard, the former domestic help of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade
'One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?' The statement issued by Preet Bharara, the US Attorney, whose office is prosecuting Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat arrested in New York last week.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday described the indictment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the United States as a "defeat" for India, saying that the criminal case against her would remain in America.
India on Thursday said the case against its diplomat Devyani Khobragade, arrested in New York on charges of visa fraud, should not be pursued and withdrawn by the US authorities.
India-born US prosecutor Preet Bharara has told a New York judge that his office is opposed to the one-month extension of the deadline for charging Devyani Khobragade in a visa fraud case as sought by her, saying plea discussions can continue even after she is charged.
The United States has agreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the arrest of an Indian diplomat has caused hiccups in bilateral ties, but said it is now focused on getting the relationship back on really strong footing.
Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat who is at the centre of a diplomatic row with the United States, is one of the 25 allottees who have been found ineligible to own a flat in the controversial Adarsh Housing society by a judicial panel which probed the scam.
Angered by the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday rescinded its invitation to the US Consulate in Mumbai to attend Narendra Modi's rally in the city on Sunday.
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The United States said it "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.
A video currently in circulation on the social media, which claims to be allegedly showing the CCTV footage of the strip search of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade after her arrest in New York, is a hoax, dangerous and provocative fabrication, the United States has said.
'This arrest was totally unnecessary and disproportionate to the gravity of charges. What was truly required was a more measured and calculated approach, keeping in mind the strain such an action could cause to the growing bilateral relationship between these two great nations.' Indian-American organisations condemn Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest.
In an escalating diplomatic row, India has asked the United States to return IDs issued to all its consular officers posted in the country, a move which may be a precursor to reviewing immunity and benefits enjoyed by them as a protest to the treatment meted out to India's deputy consul general in New York.
"The incident involving India's deputy consul general was outrageous, deplorable and inexcusable. Period. Full stop."
In a strong retaliation, India on Tuesday initiated a slew of steps to strip US diplomats and their families of privileges including withdrawing all airport passes and stopping import clearances for the US embassy, terming as "barbaric" the arrest and strip searching of India's Deputy Consul General in New York Devyani Khobragade.
A New York court has refused to grant relief to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on the ground that adjournment of the date when she has to be indicted will not grant her the "relief she seeks" regarding plea negotiations between her and the government to resolve the visa fraud case.
Workers' outfits staged a rally outside the Indian Consulate in New York to show support for Sangeeta Richard, whose allegations of low wages and exploitation led to the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade. George Joseph reports
The February 13 meeting between Nancy Powell, who quit as United States ambassador to India on Monday, and Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, was frosty enough to convince the Roosevelt House (the official address of the US embassy in New Delhi) and the White House in Washington DC that much had to be done before US diplomats could aspire to any significant access to a Modi-led government in India.
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