New Delhi, Jan 11 – India on Friday expelled a US Embassy diplomat of a rank similar to that of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in a tit-for-tat action following the US decision to ask Khobragade to leave the US.
Government sources said the US Embassy officer was closely involved in the case and the subsequent unilateral action from the US side. Though the government did not name the officer as of now, Devyani is a director-level officer and thus a similar rank officer has been expelled from the US diplomatic mission.
Before leaving for India on Friday, Khobragade told PTI: “The charges against me are false and baseless. I look forward to proving them wrong.” She said her stand and that of the government will be “vindicated”.
She affirmed her determination to ensure that this episode does not leave a lasting imprint on her family, in particular her children who are still in the United States.
Khobragade was on Friday indicted by a US grand jury for visa fraud and allegedly making false statements.
The jury held that the charges against her will remain even as she headed back to India after being accorded full diplomatic immunity.
She will have to face trial, if she returns to the US without diplomatic immunity, US attorney Preet Bharara said.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested on December 12 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a $250,000 bond.
The 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 US diplomats.
“I want to thank my minister, my colleagues in MEA and other ministries and departments, our entire political leadership, our media, and last but not the least all the women and men of our country who stood by me in this terrible situation. The stand that my government and I have taken will be vindicated,” she added.
-India Today
