Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday demanded the Government to invoke Section 377 of Indian Penal Code and take action against US diplomats in India who are having same sex companions. Sinha’s remarks came on a day the face-off between India and the US escalated over the arrest of an IFS officer in New York.
India has retaliated strongly by initiating series of steps to strip US diplomats and their families of privileges including withdrawing all airport passes and stopping import clearances for the embassy. “Media has reported that we have issued visas to a number of US diplomats’ companions. ‘Companions’ mean that they are of the same sex. Now, after the Supreme Court ruling, it is completely illegal in our country, just as paying lesser wages was illegal in the US. So, why does not the Government of India go-ahead and arrest them and punish them,” Sinha said.