If it was true that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held up the flight to Newark to ensure that Praveen Singh Pardeshi, the state principal secretary, was on board, he had at least one excuse...
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, 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.
Against the backdrop of the arrest and humiliating treatment meted out to a senior Indian diplomat, a former Pakistani diplomat to the United States has cautioned the American law enforcers to be sensitive towards the global realities on how they treat foreign diplomats in the country.
This is not the first time IFS officer Devyani Khobragade has found herself under the scanner, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
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 investigations into and actions being taken by the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service against Devyani Khobragade were not shared with Secretary of State John F Kerry, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, or Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, reveals Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa from Washington, DC.
With senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade's strip search triggering a major row between India and the United States, the invasive post-arrest procedure is again in the limelight over a year after America's top court ruled in its favour.
The Union Health ministry put the number of positive cases at 82, eight more since Thursday night, which includes the woman and a 76-year-old man from Karnataka who became the country's first coronavirus fatality besides 17 foreign nationals, Health Ministry officials said.
It was almost 10 years ago that the idea of a Yoga Day was mooted by some NGOs, but it had no takers till Prime Minister Narendra Modi realised its potential, probably at the instance of Sri Sri Ravishankar, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Relations between India and America will always be transactional. It is true that the two countries share common values -- democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, etc, but these have failed to establish a long range, lasting and compatible relationship, says Ambassador C R Gharekhan.
Asserting that its demand after Devyani Khobragade's arrest is not unreasonable, India has said the case is not about mistreatment of a domestic employee but rather of US laws being gamed for immigration purposes.
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.
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.
In a sudden development, S Jaishankar, India's Ambassador to the United States, was on Wednesday night appointed Foreign Secretary, replacing Sujatha Singh whose tenure has been abruptly 'curtailed" by nearly 8 months.
India tried to work out a legal solution, but that has not been possible. The final outcome thus is not the best one, but the optimal solution to a sub-optimal case, reports Sheela Bhatt.
'The biggest challenge Swaraj and Sitharaman will face is how far they can take their counterparts Pompeo and Mattis seriously.' 'One just doesn't know how long they will even keep their jobs.' 'They are basically salesmen peddling American wares.' 'Actually, there is nothing like 'American policies' in the Trump era,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
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.
We present Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbrauddin's full response to the statement issued by US Attorney Preet Bharara on the ongoing diplomatic tussle over Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest:
A day after India stepped up security for the United States embassy and other American institutions, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Fridaysaid the decision was not based on "reciprocity but on threat perception".
Unfazed by the outrage over the arrest and subsequent treatment of senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, the India-born US prosecutor Preet Bharara defended the action against her and confirmed that her maid's family has been "evacuated" from India.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents the names of 10 global terrorists who, according to United Nations Security Council, are operating against India from Pakistan.
President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Israel is a final and critical step in the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
'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.
Both the Barack Obama administration and United States lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed concern over the Indian Supreme Court's decision to uphold a law that criminalises consensual homosexual conduct.
Meet the US Attorney who took on Donald Trump.
In defiance of the United States, two Latin American countries -- Venezuela and Nicaragua -- offered asylum to Edward Snowden, leaker of the United States secretive surveillance programme.
Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday made a high pitch for American investments in India's power sector.
The diplomatic row between the United States and India over the arrest of an Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was mishandled by both countries and it is high time to move forward and find a diplomatic resolution, two former American diplomats have said.
'How can we forget the hoax perpetrated on the UN and on all of us when it was stated in the security council, no less, that Iraq had nuclear weapons?' recalls Ambassador B S Prakash.
A group of concerned individuals as the India Pride Project and the support of one man dubbed America's Indiana Jones has resulted in the return of India's heritage back to the country, says Vijay Kumar.
'Why do visas require the intervention of India's Union ministers? Does any civilised nation assure visas like this over Twitter?'
'Our priority cannot be better cities. Since real change is not possible, we must satisfy ourselves with a change in name,' says Aakar Patel.
'He brings fresh ideas and leadership.' 'Modi is bold, doesn't care about criticism.' Members of the Madison Square Garden audience praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech.
Modi said the support and participation of the people last year and once again now "redeems the commitment to nurture and promote this ancient discipline and reaffirms yoga as an exemplary manifestation of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world as one family)."
'There are hundreds of items from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra, Rajasthan, Gujarat in Subhash Kapoor's loot. The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing wants to just prosecute Kapoor for three cases and close it. To me that's myopic.'
The India Abroad Person of the Year Awards, held at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City on Friday June 12, honored 14 achievers in seven categories.
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