Mending ties in India-US diplomatic rift likely to take more work
New Delhi says Washington should have given it a chance to withdraw diplomat before arrest and that work needs to be done to repair ties
India yesterday blamed the United States for a "mini crisis" over the arrest and strip search of an Indian envoy, and said more work was needed to repair ties a day after the withdrawal of diplomats seemed to draw a line under the row.
Devyani Khobragade, 39, who was India's deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested in December on charges of visa fraud and lying to US authorities about what she paid her housekeeper. Khobragade's arrest and strip-search provoked protests in India and dealt a serious blow to US efforts to strengthen ties.
Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said the US should have warned senior officials visiting Washington a day before Khobragade's arrest by State Department security in December.
"It wasn't even mentioned," Khurshid told the CNN-IBN television network. He called the row a "mini crisis" and said India should have been given the chance to withdraw Khobragade before she was arrested.
He said the core of the US-Indian relationship was very strong and that he didn't expect lasting damage from what has turned into the biggest rift in years.
"I think we've found that at least the immediate, immediate concerns have been addressed," Khurshid said. "But there's a lot more still to do."
He did not clarify what else must be done to avoid lasting damage to ties between the countries, who share some US$100 billion in annual trade.