New Delhi: On a day when a raging Indian government lashed out at Preet Bharara, the US attorney who sought to justify the arrest and humiliation of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, the US government sought to distance itself from his remarks.
Making mince meat of Bharara’s remarks, India said they were just “one more attempt at post facto rationalisation of action which should never have been taken in the first place”.
In an attempt to mollify a fuming India, US under secretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman called up foreign secretary Sujatha Singh for the second time in as many days on Thursday night.
It is learnt that the two discussed specific efforts to resolve the issue. ImportÂantly perhaps for India, Ms Sherman also distanced herself from Mr Bharara’s remarks regarding the diplomat’s case. Among the steps could be the recognition of full diplomatic immunity for Ms KhobrÂagade now that she’s been transferred to India’s PermÂaÂnent Mission to the UN.
On Wednesday, Ms SherÂman had spoken to Ms Singh for nearly 40 minutes while secretary of state John Kerry had spoken to National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon.
Prime Minister ManmÂohan Singh who has already descibed Ms Khobragade’s treatment by the US authorities as deplorable is learnt to have directed external affairs minister Salman Khurshid and national security advisor Shivshankar Menon to ensure “full resolution” of the matter.
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However, earlier in the day the diplomatic spat between India and the US showed no signs of abating with New Delhi hitting out at India-born Bharara and contesting his various claims, among them his contention that Ms Khobragade was “accorded courtesies”.
As for Mr Bharara, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor’s, contention that the job of his office is to “protect victims”, India retorted by saying: “There is only one victim in this case. That victim is Devyani Khobragade.”
Amidst the outrage here over the diplomat’s humiliation in handcuffing her, making her undergo a strip search and even a cavity search, the US authorities are now seeking to deny both. While the strip search was denied on Wednesday, Mr Bharara on Thursday maintained there was no handcuffing of the diplomat.
There were “no courtesies meted out to the diplomat following her arrest” said India as it once again drew attention to her handcuffing and the intrusive body searches carried out on her.
