After the month-long diplomatic spat over Devyani Khobragade, India and the United States have agreed to push ahead with key bilateral meetings, some of which were effectively scrapped during the month-long din.
Signalling a new zeal to put the ties back on track, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns hosted a “productive lunch” for Indian Ambassador S. Jaishankar during which both “affirmed the importance of the US-India Strategic Partnership” and agreed it was time to move forward. “They agreed that the past several weeks have been challenging, and affirmed that we are both committed to moving forward to resume cooperation on the broad range of bilateral issues before us,” said a statement from the State Department.
The statement, however, made no reference to the unresolved aspects of the Devyani row with India’s continued demand to drop the charges against the diplomat, who has separately moved a US federal court, arguing that her indictment was invalid as it was filed after she had been granted full diplomatic immunity.
“Dr Khobragade now formally moves this court to dismiss the instant proceeding, to rescind the conditions of her release and eliminate her bail conditions as she is immune from criminal prosecution in the United States,” defence lawyer Arshack said in his filing in the court of US Judge Shira Sheindlin on Tuesday. The office of US Attorney Preet Bharara offered no immediate comment on the Devyani plea.
At their meeting, Burns and Jaishankar also discussed the series of diplomatic issues raised by India during the past month. According to the State Department, Burns conveyed that the US takes the Indian concerns “very seriously” and would “continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels”.
Besides scaling down a host of diplomatic privileges by way of reciprocal steps, India had also raised issues related to wages paid to Indian employees at the US Embassy and the running of the American Embassy School. The stalemate had led to the cancellation of India visits by US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal. The visits are expected to be rescheduled at an early date.
The US statement spoke of a shared commitment to work on issues such as clean energy and climate change, defence, economic and trade engagement, counterterrorism, and civil nuclear development. “To that end, they discussed initial preparations for a range of upcoming bilateral meetings and exchanges,” it said.
In a separate development, signifying bilateral cooperation, US authorities recovered and returned to the Indian consulate in New York three Indian sandstone sculptures. Stolen in 2009, the antiques are valued at over $1.5 million. Two of the sculptures “Vishnu and lakshmi” and “Vishnu and Parvati” were stolen from the Gadgach Temple in Rajasthan. The third sculpture is that of a Bodhisatva of similar antiquity from Bihar or West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the White House, as part of the Obama administration’s earnestness in dealing with human trafficking, has made it clear that US registration would be compulsory for domestic helps brought by foreign diplomats. Without making any reference to the Devyani controversy, the administration has come up with an elaborate action plan to benefit victims of human trafficking, which also has provisions for domestic helps of foreign diplomats serving in the US.
Released by White House Director of Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Munoz, the plan says the State Department will develop procedures for the in-person registration of such domestic workers shortly after their arrival.