Washington: The U.S. has agreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the arrest of an Indian diplomat has caused hiccups in bilateral ties, but said it is now focused on getting the relationship back on really strong footing.
"When you hear the Secretary (of State) express regret about something, that means that everything hasn't gone as it should," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at her daily news conference.
She was responding to questions about the remarks made by Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi that the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the U.S. has resulted in hiccups in the bilateral ties.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade, India's Deputy Consul General in New York, was arrested in December on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a $250,000 bond.
The 39-year-old diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of U.S. diplomats among other steps last month.
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