US pulls out diplomat as Khobragade back in India

Agencies/Washington

A US diplomat in India is leaving the country at India’s request in a dispute over the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, the State Department said on yesterday. “We deeply regret that the Indian government felt it was necessary to expel one of our diplomatic personnel,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington.

Psaki did not identify the US diplomat who will be leaving India. “This has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship. We expect and hope that this will now come to closure and the Indians will take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place,” she said.

Meanwhile Khobragade arrived at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport at around 10.30pm yesterday night (1700GMT), her father told waiting reporters.

“She has arrived and is very relaxed and happy. We are overwhelmed by the country’s support,” Uttam Khobragade said.

He added that she had already left the airport and gone straight to a government apartment in the city, where she wanted to rest.

The government’s decision earlier yesterday to demand the withdrawal of an American diplomat in New Delhi came as analysts expected the countries to start the process of rebuilding their battered ties.

The American diplomat was a “similar rank” to Khobragade and is suspected of having helped the family of her maid travel to America where they were granted protection by prosecutors.

“It is understood that this person was involved... in the process,” said an official source, who asked not to be named.

US prosecutors said that the family of the maid were evacuated from India to the US because of attempts to intimidate them.

Khobragade’s arrest outside her children’s school and treatment in custody, where the mother-of-two said she was subjected to a cavity search, outraged India which claimed she benefited from diplomatic immunity.

US prosecutors disputed this because she was a consular employee, and not a ranking embassy official.

They filed charges in New York and accused Khobragade of sometimes forcing the maid to work 100-hour weeks, even when sick and often without a day off, for pay as little as $1.22 an hour.

India and the US have embraced each other as strategic partners, but the last few weeks have pummeled what US President Barack Obama’s once described as “one of defining partnerships of the 21st century.”

India has removed extra security barriers at the US embassy in New Delhi, demanded contract details for domestic staff employed by American diplomats and even stopped the mission importing duty-free alcohol.

The US has invested heavily in improving ties with India, which it views as a key ally in its “pivot” to Asia, designed to check Chinese influence.

India has benefited from US backing to gain access to foreign nuclear energy technology and Washington has become an important arms supplier and market for India’s software and IT services.

Khobragade, a wealthy 39-year-old from a low-caste background, was seen at home as the victim of heavy-handed policing and her treatment a humiliation of India by the world’s superpower.

Employing domestic servants is routine for the middle classes in India where few employees have contracts, many are abused, and none make even a small fraction of the US minimum wage.

But in the US, there was little public sympathy for Khobragade who was accused of overworking, underpaying and bullying a vulnerable employee.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi said in a statement: “At the time of her departure for India, counsellor Khobragade reiterated her innocence on charges filed against her.

“She also affirmed her determination to ensure that the episode would not leave a lasting impact on her family, in particular, her children, who are still in the US.”

Her father Uttam Khobragade said she rejected an offer of a plea bargain to resolve the dispute and be allowed to stay in the US.