The Congress on Wednesday expressed sadness over 'pictures of Indians getting handcuffed and humiliated' while being deported from the United States and recalled that America had to express regret over the treatment meted out to India diplomat Devyani Khobragade in 2013 after the then United Progressive Alliance government retaliated sharply.
Kathleen Stephens, the new United States interim ambassador, on Friday took charge of the American embassy in New Delhi and said she was looking forward to working with India for strengthening and broadening the Indo-US partnership.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday downplayed US Ambassador Nancy Powell's meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying diplomats in India are free to move and get information to understand better the dynamics of Indian politics.
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.
India on Monday made it clear to the United States that it cannot be "business as usual" between the two sides till the Devyani Khobragade issue is resolved.
Reacting strongly to reports of Bharatiya Janata Party being spied upon by US National Security Agency, India on Wednesday summoned a top US diplomat in New Delhi to raise the issue, saying it was "totally unacceptable" that an Indian organisation or Indian individual's privacy was transgressed upon.
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.
The United States on Tuesday virtually justified the reported strip search by New York police of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, saying "standard procedures" have been followed during her arrest.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday cancelled his meeting with a senior United States Congressional delegation ostensibly as a mark of protest against the treatment meted out to India's deputy consul general in New York.
India's tough measures against United States diplomats following the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in New York has impacted US Ambassador Nancy Powell who called off her travel to Nepal after her special privileges were withdrawn.
The United States has hoped that the major diplomatic row over the arrest of the Indian Deputy Consul General in New York will not affect bilateral ties with India. In a major diplomatic embarrassment to India, 39-year-old Devyani Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was taken into custody on Thursday as she was dropping her daughter to school and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges before being released on a USD 250,000 bond after pleading not guilty.
The meeting between United States Ambassador to India Nancy Powell and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was a "pragmatic" and "necessary step", according to a media report, that said it seems "likely" the visa status of BJP's prime ministerial candidate "could change" if he is elected to the top post.
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.
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'A senior US diplomat last week asked me when things will go back to normal. I had to tell her that if normalcy meant getting back these perks, it is not going to happen for a very long time, if ever at all,' says Mohan Guruswamy. 'For the Indian public now is outraged that US diplomats have enjoyed all these winking at the rulebook.'
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