Devyani Khobragade case: India hopeful of early resolution of diplomatic row

New Delhi: As India and the US continue to make efforts to resolve the stand-off over the arrest of senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid hoped for an early resolution of the issue.

"World keeps moving forward, world never dies, world never stops. Something will happen," Mr Khurshid said.

Reacting to US State Department's statement welcoming his remarks on Indo-US ties, he said, "They (the US) must do something. Welcoming is not enough."

Mr Khurshid had termed the US as a valuable partner emphasising that both sides need to preserve the "extremely exceptionally valuable" relations.

39-year-old Ms Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer posted as Deputy Consul General in New York, was detained on December 12 over allegations that she paid the domestic help a small fraction of New York's minimum wage and lied about the latter's salary in a visa application. She was later released on a US $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.

India had demanded that the case against Ms Khobragade be dropped unconditionally but it was rejected by the US.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the US diplomats and families in India to turn-in their IDs will expire on Monday, and the government has not extended it so far.

It was among the measures taken by India to downgrade privileges of US diplomats in the country after Mr Khobragade was arrested, strip-searched, swabbed for DNA and cavity-searched and was then placed in a cell with drug addicts. (Domestic worker governed by our laws: India tells US)

In New York, India's Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji said he had written a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon informing him of Ms Khobragade's transfer as Counsellor to the Indian mission and requested that she be accorded the same privileges and immunities as a diplomatic officer.

Mr Mukerji said the papers are being processed and the UN has to send Ms Khobragade's documents to the US Office of Foreign Missions, which is part of the US State Department protocol for clearance. (Read)

"Now it is between the UN and the US State Department," he said.