(India) Of diplomacy and privileges

[unhappycamper]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=/data/opinion/2013/December/opinion_December39.xml§ion=opinion



Of diplomacy and privileges
Neeta Lal (Talking point) / 21 December 2013

A full-fledged diplomatic row, reminiscent of the Cold War era, has broken out between India and the US over the arrest and handcuffing in New York City of Devyani Khobragade, a mid-ranking, young diplomat at the Indian mission in New York.

The charge against Khobragade is of visa fraud. She is said to have misrepresented the work conditions of a woman on her household staff. Her subsequent public handcuffing and arrest, as well as the fact that she was strip-searched before being released on bail, has outraged the Indian community in the US.

The Indian government is “shocked and appalled” at the diplomat’s treatment. In a spectacular crackdown, it has ordered the removal of concrete security barriers from outside the US embassy in Delhi that are designed to fob off terrorist attacks. US embassy staff and their families have also been asked to surrender their ID cards. India has also refused to entertain a high-level visiting US Congress delegation.

Due to the mishandling of the episode by both sides, the collateral damage has been the warm bilateral relations. Washington and Delhi have enjoyed a special camaraderie, more so since 2009, when the two launched a “strategic dialogue” to work in synergy in multifarious areas — from nuclear energy to education, commerce to climate change. Trade between the two has also been growing exponentially. Strategically too, India is recognised by America as a vital countervailing force in Asia to China’s growing aggression in the region.