WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – The United States said yesterday it would withdraw one of its diplomats from New Delhi at India’s request after Washington effectively expelled an Indian envoy at the center of a dispute between the allies.
Devyani Khobragade, 39, who was India’s deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested in December on charges of visa fraud and lying to U.S. authorities about what she paid her housekeeper. Khobragade’s arrest and strip-search provoked protests in India and dealt a serious blow to U.S. efforts to strengthen bilateral ties.
An indictment announced by U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Khobragade of making her Indian housekeeper and nanny, Sangeeta Richard, work 100-hour, seven-day weeks for a salary of little more than $1 an hour and refusing her sick days and holidays. The legal minimum U.S. wage is $7.25 an hour.
Khobragade, who has denied the charges, arrived in New Delhi last night and was met by her father, Uttam Khobragade. “I want to thank my nation for the support they have given me,” she told Reuters Television.
