Diplomat Issue: U.S. Talks To India, PM Asks For Full Resolution

The ministry questioned the need for the U.S.  to stealthily evacuate from India the family of Sangeeta Richard, the domestic help against whom Khobragade filed a case of cheating in New Delhi last year.

It said the U.S.  admission that it was necessary to evacuate the Richard's family "needs to be considered very carefully with regard to the implicit comment it makes" about India's legal system.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday said the decision to revoke the paring down of privileges to U.S.  diplomats - taken as a retaliatory measure - would not be taken in a hurry.

"Such decisions are not taken in a hurry. We will study the matter and then take a call," the minister told IANS on the sidelines of an event here.

He said the decision was not done with an "intent to hurt them (U.S.), but because we expect certain courtesies and we return them. These are courtesies, and not rights".

Even as the U.S.  was in talks with India to find a solution to the issue, U.S.  diplomats in India were had their airport passes withdrawn as part of "reciprocal" measures taken by India.

Three days ago, police had removed barricades outside the U.S.  embassy here though a police picket remains. India has said there is no cut back on security for the U.S.  embassy.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the circumstances surrounding the criminal case against Khobragade were suspicious and the issue impinged upon the sovereignty of India.

"Devyani Khobragade represents the image of sovereign India. She has been ill-treated and the treatment has not been denied," said BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad.

"The larger issue is the way that maid's family was made to flee to the US upon a visa quickly given and then she is seeking shelter as person under harassment," he said, adding: "All this ultimately leads to a situation in which lot of suspicious circumstances are there."

The issue had figured in parliament with MPs, cutting across party lines, condemning the treatment meted out to the diplomat.

Khobragade has been transferred to India's Permanent Mission at the UN in New York, which would provide her with more diplomatic immunity.

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