US 'will not drop diplomat charges'...

[favabeans]

How will Sonia Màino respond? How will India retrieve her honor?

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US 'will not drop diplomat charges'

31 December 2013 Last updated at 03:06 ET

Devyani Khobragade is the deputy consul general of India in New York
There are no plans to drop charges against against or apologise for the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, US sources are quoted as saying in Indian media reports.

The reports say prosecutors are gathering more evidence ahead of a 13 January deadline for her indictment.

Her detention on visa fraud charges and underpaying her housekeeper has led to a diplomatic row and outrage in India.

She denies all the charges and has been released on bail.

India has demanded an apology from the US over her alleged "humiliation".

But Press Trust of India news agency quoted US sources in New York as saying that the US is gathering more evidence against the diplomat ahead of 13 January, the deadline for her indictment.

Ms Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was arrested in the city on 12 December on suspicion of visa fraud and making false statements, after being accused of paying her Indian maid below the US minimum wage.

She was handcuffed and strip-searched after a complaint from the maid, Sangeeta Richard.

The diplomat, who has been released on bail, denies all the charges and has in turn accused Ms Richard of theft and attempted blackmail.

Delhi had already ordered a series of reprisals against the US.

Security barricades around the US embassy in the city were removed and a visiting US delegation was snubbed by senior Indian politicians and officials. India is also checking the tax status of Americans working at schools in the country.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

@favabeans I am pretty curious to know that you are on this forum since Sep 25, 2009 - Messages/post only 39 - quite inactive for the last 3 years - didn't really showed any interest to express your opinions on other matters - but all of a sudden - this much hyper-activeness on this Indo-US Diplomatic spat! Any specific reason my friend?

 

[rockstarIN]

Time to sort out things without more damage to both!

 

[arp2041]

But we can always DROP the BOMB!!!

 

[favabeans]

@favabeans I am pretty curious to know that you are on this forum since Sep 25, 2009 - Messages/post only 39 - quite inactive for the last 3 years - didn't really showed any interest to express your opinions on other matters - but all of a sudden - this much hyper-activeness on this Indo-US Diplomatic spat! Any specific reason my friend?

India has been in the news quite a lot in the past year (the gang rapes) and now this diplomatic spat. These all add up to motivate me to participate in this forum.

This diplomatic spat is especially interesting in that it tests the sanguine view that India has become a strong power in the past decade while America has declined considerably.

I'm as curious as the next person as to how India will respond to America's apparent and relentless bullying in this case, having tossed India's honor and the diplomat's modesty into the gutters without so much as batting an eyelid.

What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think this spat will be resolved?

 

[vicky sen]

India has been in the news quite a lot in the past year (the gang rapes) and now this diplomatic spat. These all add up to motivate me to participate in this forum.

This diplomatic spat is especially interesting in that it tests the sanguine view that India has become a strong power in the past decade while America has declined considerably.

I'm as curious as the next person as to how India will respond to America's apparent and relentless bullying in this case, having tossed India's honor and the diplomat's modesty into the gutters without so much as batting an eyelid.

I honestly do not think u r here for any meaningful discussion.

All you know/heard about india is gang rapes and you've come to express your views such as this:
This diplomatic spat is especially interesting in that it tests the sanguine view that India has become a strong power in the past decade while America has declined considerably.

The issue is about things like Diplomatic immunity, following protocols, and NOT india's desire to showcase her might.

 

[favabeans]

I honestly do not think u r here for any meaningful discussion.

All you know/heard about india is gang rapes and you've come to express your views such as this:
This diplomatic spat is especially interesting in that it tests the sanguine view that India has become a strong power in the past decade while America has declined considerably.

The issue is about things like Diplomatic immunity, not following protocols, and NOT india's desire to showcase her might.

So, are you suggesting that India should adopt the Gandhian approach vis-a-vis the United States by not resisting at all?

 

[sincity]

India have no legal ground to respond to the arrest of a Indian criminal station in the US. To sum it all up, India can do jack shit to free the defendant.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

India has been in the news quite a lot in the past year (the gang rapes) and now this diplomatic spat. These all add up to motivate me to participate in this forum.

This diplomatic spat is especially interesting in that it tests the sanguine view that India has become a strong power in the past decade while America has declined considerably.

I'm as curious as the next person as to how India will respond to America's apparent and relentless bullying in this case, having tossed India's honor and the diplomat's modesty into the gutters without so much as batting an eyelid.

What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think this spat will be resolved?

Well in my view these sort of matters should not be exaggerated to an extent that it may lead to a jolted Indo-US relationship - Solving this matter at the earliest will be in India and US both of the countries national interest.

It is now a question of when, not if, the United States throws in the towel in the long and ugly Indo-US diplomatic spat involving Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, and withdraw all criminal cases against her. The US will have to eat crow over the Devyani affair, though it may or may not apologise for the incident. But that is not so material. However, it will be in long term national interests of India if the US takes a few months in closing all cases against Devyani. Stumped!

Here is the explanation why:- (i) that it is an open and shut case that India and Devyani will win the legal battle in the US; and (ii) that it will be in long term Indian interest if the “closure” of the Devyani case were to formally drag on a few months. These twin arguments derive strength from the chance discovery, and a belated discovery, that Devyani was indeed “accredited” to the Permanent Mission of India (PMI) in New York as early as 26 August 2013 and thus entitled to full diplomatic immunity, more than hundred days before she was arrested on 12 December and incarcerated. On 26 December, the Ministry of External Affairs came up with a belated revelation that Devyani was indeed accredited as an “advisor” to the PMI with full diplomatic immunity with effect from 26 August 2013.

Under the "Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations" Article 4 Section 11A specifies “Immunities from personal arrest or detention and from the seizure of their personal baggage” of all representatives of members to the United Nations. Section 16 of the same Article specifies that the expression “Representative” shall be deemed to include all Delegates, Deputy Delegates, Advisors, Technical Experts and Secretaries of delegations. Her arrest, therefore on 12 December, was contrary to her status on that date. This explains why the US has already initiated an internal probe into the Devyani case while acknowledging mistakes in the episode.

Thanks to the Devyani incident, we have come to know several things. The first thing is that the American diplomats in India have routinely been enjoying all sorts of privileges without reciprocating these to the Indian diplomats in the US. This has been going on for years and no government in New Delhi ever dared to question this unequal diplomatic practice. This may change forever, and it should, after the Devyani incident has blown the lid off this diplomatic apartheid. Two, the US must understand that it has to take India as seriously as it takes China and Russia. The Americans are known to handle China and Russia with kid gloves mainly because it knows that if Washington were to do anything outrageous with Beijing and Moscow the retaliation will be fast and furious. As per the World Bank-IMF projections, India will be Number Three economy in the world in just 15 years, relegating Japan to the fourth spot. Even now, India is ranked Number Eleven, with Canada managing to have nudged past India for the tenth spot. This economic reality should be reflected in the international politics and diplomacy too. India can do this and drive the point home to the Americans in the coming weeks.

Forgive is okay; but India must not forget the humiliation the Americans have heaped in the Devyani case.