What They Said: Indian Diplomat Charged with U.S. Visa Fraud

An ongoing row between India and the U.S. over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York escalated Tuesday with the South Asian nation demanding all American diplomats in India to turn in their identity cards for scrutiny. The move came in response to the arrest of Devyani Khobragade on charges of visa fraud last week.
 
Ms. Khobragade, a deputy consul general at the Indian Consulate in Manhattan, was arrested Thursday, a development India’s foreign ministry described as an insult to bilateral ties.

The diplomat had allegedly submitted  false documents to obtain a work visa for an Indian babysitter and housekeeper in her Manhattan home, the Associated Press reported. Court papers said Ms. Khobragade, 39, claimed in visa documents that she paid the worker $4,500 a month when the worker actually received less than $600 a month. The Indian diplomat, who pleaded not guilty in court the same day, was later freed on a $250,000 bond.  Neither she, nor her lawyer could immediately be reached for comment.

Ms. Khobragade’s arrest met with anger from Indian authorities.

“Government of India is shocked and appalled at the manner in which she has been humiliated by the U.S. authorities,” a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. read on Thursday. On Friday, India’s foreign secretary in New Delhi summoned Nancy Powell, the U.S. ambassador to India.

The impasse continued through the weekend. Early Tuesday, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde declined to meet a visiting U.S. delegation. Some news networks reported that India had asked American diplomats for details of how much each of them paid their Indian housekeepers. A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said he could not immediately confirm such a move. A spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs was not immediately available for comment.

By Tuesday afternoon, #Devyani Khobragade became the top most searched term on Twitter in India.