A little-noticed aspect of the uproar has been India’s unhappiness with American officials of Indian descent. The federal prosecutor on the case, Preet Bharara, is of Indian descent, as are many officials on the South Asia desk of the United States State Department.
India has a fraught relationship with members of its own diaspora. Commercials and Bollywood films often treat such people with mild contempt, and in the Khobragade case, Indian officials have said they believe that their counterparts in the United States treated India poorly in an excessive show of loyalty to the United States.
American officials quietly say they bent over backward to heal bruised feelings. On Dec. 19, Secretary of State John Kerry tried to get in touch with the Indian foreign secretary, Salman Khurshid, but Mr. Khurshid did not take his call for reasons he has not explained. So Mr. Kerry called Shivshankar Menon, the Indian national security adviser, to express his “regret” over the matter.
Top Indian politicians instead demanded an official apology and a dismissal of all charges against Ms. Khobragade. On Dec. 20, Mr. Khurshid continued to express outrage over the affair and said he expected to hear from Mr. Kerry soon. But by then, American eagerness to resolve the impasse had evaporated. That same day, a deputy State Department spokeswoman said Mr. Kerry had not spoken to Mr. Khurshid and had no plans to do so.
India is seeking permission from the State Department to transfer Ms. Khobragade from the Indian Consulate, where she gets limited diplomatic immunity, to its United Nations mission, where her protection against prosecution would be far stronger. Indeed, Indian officials say Ms. Khobragade was consulting with her United Nations counterparts as early as last summer, which they say should give her immunity for the entire period.
But American officials so far insist that whatever immunity Ms. Khobragade earns from the switch will not be retroactive.
“Receiving diplomatic immunity does not nullify any previously existing criminal charges,” said Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman. “Those remain on the books.”
Ms. Khobragade could leave the United States for India, never return and never face another day in court, but that seems unlikely because her husband, a professor of philosophy, was raised in the United States and has family there.
Source: NY Times
Enough of colonial hangover and inferiority complex due to economic backwardness. Its high time they get tit for tat. Strategic partnership does not mean that the people should be treated shabbily.