India
expels U.S. diplomat of the same rank in retaliation
Former
Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade reached New Delhi on Friday night
after the U.S. gave her full diplomatic immunity even as India asked Washington
to send back a diplomat of the same rank as Ms. Khobragade.
Although
she didn’t meet the waiting media at the Delhi airport, her father, who
received her, told reporters she was “fine and happy to be home.” Ms.
Khobragade boarded an aircraft in New York on a day a grand jury indicted her
for visa fraud and making false statements.
Suggesting
a de facto expulsion, U.S. officials were quoted as saying that after granting
Ms. Khobragade’s request for full U.N. diplomatic immunity, the State
Department had “requested her departure” from the country, especially after
“the Indians refused… to waive the immunity.”
Her
lawyers hit out at the office of the prosecutors, describing their
investigation as “shoddy” and accusing Attorney Preet Bharara of issuing
“baseless charges.”
The
MEA put out a statement early on Friday morning, announcing Ms. Khobragade’s
departure. It also said that U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz would not
cancel his visit to India, as was announced by the State Department a day
earlier.
Before
leaving U.S., Ms. Khobragade insisted she was innocent and thanked the Indian
government, the people at large and the media for their support.
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