India takes harder stance as court date for Khobragade approaches.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: As the January 13 preliminary court date for Devyani Khobragade fast approaches, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh announced in New Delhi today that relations between the US and India cannot go back to “business as usual” until the Khobragade affair is put to rest.
For India, a resolution in the case means that all charges against Khobragade are dropped post-haste and the US issues a full and unequivocal apology for its treatment of the Deputy Consul General, who was arrested on December 12 in New York City and subsequently strip-searched by law enforcement agents.
Such an ending seems to be a long shot with each passing day, as the State Department continues to silently let the days go by. If the case does proceed to court, the US stands to lose a critical ally in a region of the world where it, quite frankly, does not have many friends.
In fact, in a further affront to the US, even Pakistan has sided with India on the issue.
“In the entire world, there is only one way… there is a long history to this… the respect for Vienna Convention… the Vienna Convention ought to be respected in letter and spirit by everybody,†Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir was quoted as saying on the issue in New Delhi.
India has also condemned giving T visas to the maid Sangeeta Richard’s family members to emigrate to the US, saying that the insinuation was that the Indian government was party to the trafficking.
New Delhi has denounced the claim, saying that such an assertion is baseless and that it has a strong anti-trafficking stance which it upholds to the utmost. On top of that, it has been confirmed that Richard was given an official passport by the government of India and followed proper channels in her voyage from India to the US, which is the furthest thing from being smuggled.
Condemnation continued to pour in from former diplomats on the issue, with the latest being Shashi Tharoor.
In a column for Project-Syndicate.org, India’s Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Tharoor, who was a former Indian diplomat at the UN, warns the US that it is treading on thin ice with its handling of the Khobragade case, particularly in the way the US has thumbed its nose at India repeatedly. He said the coming days will have a bearing not just on America’s relationship with India, but with countries around the world.
“India had handled American diplomats with a generosity of spirit that it felt the bilateral relationship deserved. Now, with the same spirit shown to be lacking from the other side, the friendship has suffered,” says Tharoor. “Until the US displays appropriate deference to the sensitivities, pride, and honor of other peoples and cultures, it will continue to be resented around the world.
Tharoor also addressed the human trafficking claim, saying “The American habit of imposing its worldview self-righteously on others is deeply unwelcome. To most Indians, common discourtesy cannot be repackaged as moral virtue.”
While analysts and policy experts have repeatedly said that the Khobragade incident is too small a fish to completely botch the vital US-India relationship, it seems that New Delhi may be willing to shun its most important Western ally over the matter. Both countries stand to lose a great deal if such a move were to occur, and it would be a great disappointment given the recent upward trend shown in the relationship after decades of tensions.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com