Washington: As India and the U.S. work to ease tensions after a bitter month long diplomatic spat, an influential U.S. daily has suggested that the damage "to India-America relations is unlikely to dissipate soon."

Tensions between the two countries "have eased" with the return home of Devyani Khobragade, India's then deputy consul general in New York, whose arrest and strip search over charges of visa fraud and mistreating her domestic worker sparked the row, the New York Times noted.

"But her case and the issues it raised are not resolved, and the damage to India-America relations is unlikely to dissipate soon," the influential daily said in an editorial titled "India-America Relations on Edge."

"This unfortunate episode is a reminder that while both nations are democracies, neither can avoid the hard work necessary to make the relationship work," it said.

Recounting the circumstances of Khobragade's arrest and the retaliatory steps taken by India, the Times acknowledged "the case might have been handled better."

"The United States cannot ignore laws that mandate how workers should be paid and that they be treated fairly," it said.

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