Devyani Khobragade is back, but issues remain
The return of Ms Devyani Khobragade to India this past Friday does not end the diplomatic dispute between New Delhi and Washington, DC, but it closes at least one chapter in this sordid saga. India's former Consul General in New York has been spared the humiliation of being tried in a US court and possibly imprisoned there, even though the charges against her still stand. She was indicted by a New York grand jury for visa fraud on Thursday, and then told to leave the country when India officially refused to lift her diplomatic cover — granted recently by the US State Department in accordance with Ms Khobragade's new position at India's Permanent Mission to the UN. Ms Khobragade can now only return to the US if she submits to the jurisdiction of the courts there. In time, this might prove to be bit of a bother because her husband and children are US citizens. But for now, they are also expected to move to India. At the diplomatic level, the Indian Government has reciprocated by sending back an American diplomat from New Delhi in response to Ms Khobragade's expulsion. While this is in keeping with established diplomatic procedures, it is still very rare between friendly nations — and only shows how the case has snowballed and the impact it has made on the India-US bilateral.
Nevertheless, now that the immediate crisis has been averted, US authorities must reconsider their handling of the issue. That the US marshals erred in arresting and incarcerating an Indian diplomat is without a doubt. There can also be no two ways about the fact that the US Department of Justice insulted the Indian judiciary and law enforcement machinery when it paved the way for Ms Khobragade's housekeeper's family to be evacuated to America on the ground that the family members were at risk in this country. Finally, it is the State Department which must take responsibility for much of the mess — right from where it ignored the red flags raised by Ms Khobragade after her housekeeper absconded in July last year to its complete failure to gauge the kind of backlash a diplomat’s arrest was bound to generate in India. But New Delhi too cannot be let off the hook entirely. The Ministry of External Affairs had twice before faced similar problems with its diplomats posted in the US. Had it taken necessary precautionary measures earlier, the situation would not have come to such a sorry pass. Instead, South Block assumed that the goodwill and generosity it had shown towards American diplomats based in India, in the form of concessions and special privileges, will ensure that its own people will be taken care of by the folks at Foggy Bottom. This myth has now been shattered. Hopefully, the Ministry of External Affairs has learnt that bending over backwards before a superpower brings no returns. If India wants to be treated with dignity in the international arena, New Delhi must stand up for itself — like it has done this time for Ms Khobragade.