NEW DELHI: The Indian diplomat at the centre of a spiralling row with the United States returned home on Friday as New Delhi retaliated by asking a senior consular official at the US embassy to leave as soon as possible.
NDTV news channel said Devyani Khobragade flew back to New Delhi after a deal between the US and India in which she was indicted but granted diplomatic immunity from visa fraud charges.
“India has now expelled an American diplomat of similar rank from Delhi, in a sign of lingering bitterness between the two countries,” the report said. Official sources preferred not to describe the US official’s removal as outright expulsion.
It appears that the concerned US officer in New Delhi may have had a role in the events leading up to Ms Khobragade’s arrest. Sources told NDTV that the officer was involved in getting the family of Ms Khobragade’s former domestic help, Sangeeta Richard, flown out of India for the US.
The director-rank diplomat was given “a little more than 48 hours” to leave India.
A US grand jury indicted Ms Khobragade on Thursday on two counts, for visa fraud and making false statements to get a work visa for Sangeeta Richard, her housekeeper in New York.
Before leaving for India, Ms Khobragade asserted that she was innocent. “All charges against me are false and baseless,” she said.
The diplomat said she was determined to ensure that the episode did not leave a lasting imprint on her family.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said bringing back Ms Khobragade was India’s defeat, as the charges against her will not be dropped.
Ms Khobragade was arrested on December 12 in New York, where she was serving as deputy consul general. She said she was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a massive row with India unleashing retaliatory measures to downgrade the privileges of American diplomats.
Meanwhile, Sangeeta Richard has made a statement justifying her allegations of exploitation. “I never thought that things would get so bad here, that I would work so much that I did not have time to sleep or eat or have time to myself.
“I would like to tell other domestic workers who are suffering as I did – you have rights and do not let anyone exploit you.”
Her statement was released by the anti-trafficking group Safe Horizon.