In fresh retaliatory move, India asks US Embassy to halt all 'commercial activities'

[Shabz Nist]

India asks US Embassy to stop commercial activities

The Government on Wendesday gave the American Embassy in New Delhi a week's time to close down a multi-purpose club on its premises running in violation of the Vienna Convention.

The Club includes a bar, pool, beauty parlour, restaurant, bowling alley and tennis courts. Outsiders — including Indian Government officials, businessmen and journalists — were entertained at the club, which was meant only for American Embassy diplomats.

India generally overlooks this misuse by embassies but has reeled-in exceptions provided to U.S. diplomats after a fall-out over the arrest and slapping of a case against Indian woman diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New york on December 12.

India began withdrawing all special privileges to the U.S. Embassy and the consulate staff not extended to its staff posted in United States. Last week, the Government asked the U.S. Culture Centre not to screen movies as it didn't have a licence for the purpose.

After a late Monday evening meeting between U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh saw no movement on the Dr. Khobragade issue, officials had spoken of more measures in the offing.

India is seeking an apology from the U.S. and withdrawal of charges against the woman diplomat.

The crackdown on quasi-commercial establishments in the Embassy and instructions not to make exceptions for U.S. Embassy with under local traffic rules are part of the approach to treat U.S. Counsellors at par with Indian Counsellors in the US.

Identity cards giving special privileges to U.S. diplomats in consulates have already been recalled and replaced with ones that put them on par with their Indian counterparts in the U.S. Their airport passes have been cancelled and barricades outside the U.S. Embassy were removed as part of this "reciprocity".

India asks US Embassy to stop commercial activities - The Hindu

Wrong section. Can someone move this to Indian section ???

 

[Solomon2]

I think under the terms of the treaty - btw, the relevant paragraph is 31-C, not 41-3 as TOI stated - India always had jurisdiction over for-profit activities on the embassy grounds; it's just now changing the rules for their operation. It isn't "misuse" if the U.S. was following the approved guidelines in the past. However, if they're talking about a business running these services under contract with the U.S. gov't - rather than leasing the property - then that's unlikely to be considered a for-profit business outside the terms of the treaty.

I wonder how the traffic enforcement bit will be carried out. That's usually carte blanche for everyone, as diplomats can never be hauled to court for traffic violations and consuls can almost always argue that they are on their way to or from work or on duty: all exemptions under the treaty.

 

[faithfulguy]

I think under the terms of the treaty - btw, the relevant paragraph is 31-C, not 41-3 as TOI stated - India always had jurisdiction over for-profit activities on the embassy grounds; it's just now changing the rules for their operation. It isn't "misuse" if the U.S. was following the approved guidelines in the past. However, if they're talking about a business running these services under contract with the U.S. gov't - rather than leasing the property - then that's unlikely to be considered a for-profit business outside the terms of the treaty.

I wonder how the traffic enforcement bit will be carried out. That's usually carte blanche for everyone, as diplomats can never be hauled to court for traffic violations and consuls can almost always argue that they are on their way to or from work or on duty: all exemptions under the treaty.

India is now finding all kind of excuses to "penalize" America. Soon, they will cross the line and limiting US diplomatic prerogatives under the Vienna convention. If India arrest Americans under this trump up pretext, than it will generate a response from American public. Lets see how this plays out. In the mean time, the Indian diplomat still head to trial.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Extreme brinkmanship... would be interesting to see who blinks first!


Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade splits Barack Obama admin down the middle: The Washington Post

The arrest of an Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, IFS on charges of US visa fraud in New York has become a major crisis in US-India relations and a source of contention within the Obama administration, according to an American media report.

"Visa fraud case of Devyani Khobragade roils US-India relations, sparks new legal dispute,' headlined The Washington Post in a news report yesterday in which the daily described the issue as a major crisis between the two countries.

"The arrest last month of Devyani Khobragade, 39, India's Deputy Consul General in New York, on charges of submitting fraudulent US visa documents for her Indian maid, has become a major crisis in US-India relations and a source of contention within the Obama administration," The Post reported.

A 1999-batch IFS officer, Devyani Khobragade was arrested on December 12 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid Sangeeta Richard. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond.

India has been demanding the withdrawal of the case against her and an apology from the US for the treatment meted out to the diplomat, including a strip search and detention with criminals after her arrest.

According to the Post, the efforts of the State Department and Indian government to resolve the case diplomatically would be made significantly more difficult once Khobragade is indicted, and she has clearly pinned her hopes on avoiding that step.

A conviction could also hamper any future plans that Devyani Khobragade, whose husband is a US citizen, may have to visit or reside in the United States, it noted.

In another article, The American Interest said the continued hard feelings in India suggest that the dispute could have a long-term impact on a relationship both sides say is crucial.

Coming to some kind of mutually face-saving compromise on the current case would be a good idea, and if nothing else it is useful to remember that President Barack Obama has the power to pardon any offenses under US law, it said.

"More important, the US needs to sit down with the Indian government and work out a mutually acceptable understanding that will govern the status of diplomats and consular officials in both countries on the basis of reciprocity," The American Interest wrote.

"America's goal here is not to win an argument about the merits of this case. It is to deepen our relationship with India without doing violence to our own principles and laws," it said.

 

[Shabz Nist]

Well, for their sake, I hope they stop trying to burn bridges. The NSA leaks are already rather damaging as it is.