India-US Strategic News and Discussion

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Rony
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Rony »

rsangram wrote: I am sorry, but I am rather enjoying this.
You can say what you like about the Americans, but they treat each American victim abroad as an attack on their national pride, babu or no babu - even a drug addicted good for nothing hobo, as long as he carries a US passport.
While Indians like you bitch and moan and enjoy when outsiders humiliate our govt officials (whom you dub as "elite") and agencies and bring in tangential internal issues and pet peeves in what is purely a attack on Indian state. Your argument is as reasonable as the argument of Indian leftists that "India should not point finger at xyz for racism because we are racists ourselves".
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Rony »

The mystery of why Devyani Khobragade should have paid $54,000 a year to Sangeeta Richards
According to the allegations against her, Khobragade and her maid had agreed that Khobragade would pay 30,000 rupees per month, which at the time was equivalent to $573.07. At 40 hours per week, with approximately 4.3 weeks in a month, $573.07 equates to a rate of $3.31 per hour. However, the complaint says, Khobragade instructed her maid to say that she would be paid $9.75 per hour, and not to say anything about being paid 30,000 rupees per month. Khobragade also instructed the maid to say that she would work 40 hours per week, with duty hours being 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Khobragade, it’s alleged, told the maid that the amount of $4,500 per month was a US prerequisite to get a visa.

Now, as important as it is to ask who decided to process the maid’s visa in India in the first place, given Khobragade’s salary, it is also important to ask as to where did this number of $4,500 come from?

Let’s do a quick math (with calculators): $9.75 x 40 (hours of work per week) is equal to $390. In a month with 4 weeks, Khobragade’s maid, Sangeeta Richard, would make $1560. In the five months of the year with five weeks, she would make $1950. A full time year (at 40 hours a week) is equal to 2080 hours, which means the annual salary for her would be $20,280, almost one third of what the US government wanted Khobragade to pay her maid – $54,000 annually.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a maid and housekeeper in the US earned an average median salary of $19,390 in 2011, or approximately $9.32 per hour. That year, there were 111, 600 individuals working such jobs in the country. In comparison, a restaurant cook’s median salary is $22,080; a security guard makes $23, 900; a pre-school teacher made $26, 620; a sports coach $28, 470; Bookkeeping, Accounting, & Audit Clerks made $34,740, while a bus driver made 35,720, and a marriage and family therapist’s media salary was $46,240, just a bit more than what Khobragade’s maid was supposed to be paid.

But then Sangeeta Richards was employed as a maid and housekeeper, not as a marriage and family therapist. Her salary should be closer to $20,000.

Can somebody please solve the mystery of why Sangeeta Richards, the maid of Devyani Khobragade, was to be paid $54,000 a year, and not $20,280?
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Rony »

Devyani Khobragade fallout: Will govt take action against gay American diplomats?
With the Supreme Court once again criminalising same-sex relationships under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), will the Indian government now take action against self-declared gay American diplomats who have sought diplomatic immunity for their same-sex partners?

With India threatening more actions against US diplomats until Washington renders an "unconditional apology" over the mistreatment of an Indian diplomatic official in New York, there is talk in official circles of invoking Section 377 of the IPC to book these diplomats and their partners under Indian laws, well informed sources confirmed to IANS.

Diplomatic relations between countries are governed under the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention for Consular Relations under the principle of reciprocity. So when a country is seen to act against the Conventions against a country's diplomats or embassy, the other country is well within its right to take reciprocal measures against the country.

Officials said the Indian government has in its knowledge many such American diplomats who have declared they had same-sex relationships and have sought immunity and other diplomatic facilities for their partners. "We know who they are and, if we want, we can take action against them under Indian laws," said one source with access to official thinking, not wishing to be named because of the delicate nature of the issue involved.

"But the fact remains that, under the law of the land, these are now illegal relationships and hence these people can be subject to criminal prosecution for which they do not enjoy diplomatic immunity," the source told IANS.


Officials, especially those who have dealt closely with the US, said Washington only understands tough language and gave the example of how the US suddenly withdrew certain tax priviliges to Indian diplomats about 10 years ago. In retaliaton, India imposed service tax liabilities on the US embassy operations here.

When the US embassy petitioned the government against the tax, they were told it could only be done if the tax privileges to Indian diplomats were restored. The US subsequently restored those privileges and New Delhi followed suit.


The latest diplomatic fracas escalated after Devyani Khobragade, the deputy consul general in New York, was arrested, handcuffed and humiliatingly strip searched, under what the US police calls its "standard procedures" after she was found to violate visa regulations for her Indian house help.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by sanjaykumar »

Action against gay diplomats-that would be a gross violation of human rights and just plain idiotic.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by putnanja »

sanjaykumar wrote:Action against gay diplomats-that would be a gross violation of human rights and just plain idiotic.
It need not arrest any of them, but just revoking the visas of their domestic companions and stop giving visas for gay US diplomats/companions. That itself should be sufficient. As the firstpost article mentions, US only understands language of force. Else, it will try to bulldoze its way through
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Shanmukh »

rsangram wrote:
You are the one missing the point. I would accept your argument about this being an internal matter and an Indian pride issue, if in addition to being outraged at this incident, the Indian government, Indian embassies and regular Indians got equally offended at the ill treatment suffered by ordinary Indians while they are abroad, at the hand of foreign governments. But what I object to is that no one, not the Indian government, not the Indian embassies, not even the media or ordinary Indians bat an eyelid and none of them get their pride hurt when ordinary Indians suffer these humiliations on a daily basis in foreign countries. And to top it off, it is these IFS babus, who rub salt on their wounds, when instead of helping they further victimize these ordinary Indians. Where is Indian pride then ? Why does Indian pride only come into play when a babu is violated ? It is this double standard, one for ordinary Indians and one for babus, that causes me to be not sympathetic to babus, even when they are victims. I am sorry, but I am rather enjoying this.

You can say what you like about the Americans, but they treat each American victim abroad as an attack on their national pride, babu or no babu - even a drug addicted good for nothing hobo, as long as he carries a US passport.
Dude - you are over-generalising the `unsympathetic IFS babus' stuff. As someone who saw first hand how our foreign service works for nearly 15 years, I can tell you that I have seen both types, in almost equal proportion. The cases where Indian babus have behaved badly are highlighted, while cases where Indian babus went out of their way to help other Indians are routinely ignored by the press. This kind of schadenfreude at the plight of an Indian woman is sickening.
member_22733
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22733 »

Yes. Pulling up the gay diplomat should not be the way to retaliate, ideally.

However, the Americans mistreated our diplomats for violating a law that was earlier being bypassed with knowledge and blessings from the US state. They did not care to respect our cultural situation (however regressive) and chose to apply existing laws with full force in the most regressive and humiliating manner possible.

Our laws maybe regressive and maybe set for reform (archaic laws written by the stiff-upper lipped gora variety), but the practical retaliation would be to apply an equal set of regressive laws from our side (which were bypassed earlier with the knowledge of our state) just to prove a point.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by sanjaykumar »

It need not arrest any of them, but just revoking the visas of their domestic companions and stop giving visas for gay US diplomats/companions. That itself should be sufficient.


Sure, if Indians think that it is a noble thing to keep company with Saudis, Ugandans and Christian fundamentalists.

I am sure all counter intelligence organisations keep thick dossiers on drug taking and purchasing/sexual peccadilloes as well as any 'latent' bacha bazi proclivities. Otherwise they would be thoroughly incompetent. The drug trade in Afghanistan has been essentially completely censored, it involves everybody. Criminal deviancy is sellable not just on the streets of Bangkok. Unfortunately, there are many westerners (as well as every one else) who do not seem to understand the harm it inflicts.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Bade »

Laws do not have to be fair. Who said that ? They just have to be legal to be applied.

I am pretty sure since the SC ruling is in force appropriate action will be taken by the US embassy. India via the media has provided ample feelers.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by putnanja »

sanjaykumar wrote:It need not arrest any of them, but just revoking the visas of their domestic companions and stop giving visas for gay US diplomats/companions. That itself should be sufficient.


Sure, if Indians think that it is a noble thing to keep company with Saudis, Ugandans and Christian fundamentalists.
Why do you say that? India is not doing that uniformly for all countries. As I mentioned earlier, it should be done only to US, more of a reciprocal enforcement of local laws . Note that according to the law, there is no such thing as a "companion visa" , only a visa for spouse (not even for live-in partner of opposite sex). However, in the interests of bilateral relations, India makes an exception for "live-in partners" and "same-sex partners" through the "companion visa" rule only for the diplomatic community. Here, India can enforce the law wrt US diplomats. If US backs down, so can we.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22733 »

Bade wrote:Laws do not have to be fair. Who said that ? They just have to be legal to be applied.

I am pretty sure since the SC ruling is in force appropriate action will be taken by the US embassy. India via the media has provided ample feelers.
Yep, they just have to be applied. The more regressive and archaic they are the better and I am sure there are many of them.

We can later "repent" what happened and try and change the laws for the better. Everyone wins :)
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Rony »

Some one needs to investigate this maid as well.Something is not right about her.

Some one needs to investigate this maid as well.Something is not right about her
Reports suggest the issue dates back several months to when Ms Khobragade’s domestic worker, Sangeeta Richard, requested permission to work for other people on her day off and then later failed to return home to the diplomat’s house.

Ms Richard’s Indian passport was subsequently revoked and she and her family were taken into custody
. Subsequent to that, the US authorities have been investigating the circumstances in which she arrived in New York.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Victor »

In the chalta hai legal atmosphere of India, specially Delhi, I'd be shocked if several senior American embassy staffers were not already in violation of loosely-applied Indian laws. India should arrest and humiliate as many of these people as it can immediately without wasting time and hot air. Preferably in public with camera crews present. We are famous for mouthing off aar-paar type lingo without any action to back it up and this must change asap.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Shanmukh »

My question is over the timing. Why did they humiliate the consul now?

I wonder if all this is a massive farce? Is it so that the US can withdraw its assets, currently ensconced in India, in peace, now that the UPA is unlikely to return to power? India will make a show of expelling a few diplomats (those whom the US wants withdrawn), and at the same time, allows the MMS government to gain some prestige, maybe a few more seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections?
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Bade »

Someone commented elsewhere that it could be retaliation for arrest of American citizens in Indian waters recently.... Chennai ? Only the retaliatory escalation will tell the true and full story. :-)
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Raja »

There are many other ways India can react to this incident without making an international incident by arresting gay partners of American officials. That would be the most un-Chanakiya thing we could do. If you guys think that getting widespread international condemnation is the best way to go about this then by all means scream from your local terrace and do more chest thumping.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by devesh »

rsangram wrote:
Rahul M wrote:a_bharat, rsangram does not actually have a point, other than a misplaced schadenfreude at India's humiliation by an act that goes beyond all standards of diplomatic relations, however that might be spun.

just FWIW, Indian diplomats, barring the very senior ones do not enjoy any special treatment in India, there are numerous IFS officers who take the delhi metro to work when posted at delhi. IFS, for all its faults is not IPS or IAS. IFS has never had anything to do with 'other sources of income' and lastly, salaries of India officers posted abroad to the developed world are quite low, given the job they have to do and certainly compared to salaries of officers from other countries.
to sum up, the job has few perks, no ostentatious power, requires you to live outside the country and little financial benefit to offset all that. consequently, the only people who opt for IFS are the people who are really motivated by the idea of representing India. the rest opt for easier and lucrative services like IRS etc.

now, it might well be that Indian diplomats do not do all that we want of them (to be frank, there's a huge structural problem too, the numbers employed by foreign service are miniscule f.e) but that does not in any way justify expressing glee at the loutish and perverse behaviour meted out to an Indian diplomat.
that is unless one is a lout or pervert himself, or a MUTU.

That may be true. But the IFS still treats ordinary Indians in Indian embassies and consulates very poorly. No, there is no kinship between an ordinary Indian and an IFS or an IAS in general, just as there is none between an ordinary Indian and an MLA or an MP or even a corporator, in general.

the woman who was put through that ordeal might have been your bitterest enemy, but you must still shelve that in the back of your mind b/c what happened to her was an insult to India and all Indians. it's a deliberate act of inflicting horror on a hapless woman by armed fascists.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22872 »

Apologies if posted before:
US confirms Indian diplomat was strip-searched

I hope US consular personnel too are thrown in and subjected to "standard detention and interrogation procedures".
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by TSJones »

Bade wrote:Someone commented elsewhere that it could be retaliation for arrest of American citizens in Indian waters recently.... Chennai ? Only the retaliatory escalation will tell the true and full story. :-)
What Americans were arrested? I haven't heard of any Americans arrested in Indian waters. I have heard of Ukrainian and eastern Europeans arrested in a boat that was contracted to an American ship guarding company, but no Americans.

But please keep going. Don't let logic get in your way. :)
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by devesh »

hey, just as a member of BRF published a nice long article in an Indian Defense mag about Americans protesting against the Indian Army Chief's recognition for IA's services in Afghanists, may be RSangram will publish own article about why Devyani deserved what she got!
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Victor »

This should be interesting. Sify link
India is also seeking details like salaries paid to Indian staff employed in the US consulates, including those working as domestic helps with the families of American officials because there is suspicion that Indian staff at the US embassy were discriminated against.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22872 »

^^^ are, throw the US guys in the latrine less cells first already, we can attribute reasons later.
Bade
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Bade »

TSJones wrote: What Americans were arrested? I haven't heard of any Americans arrested in Indian waters. I have heard of Ukrainian and eastern Europeans arrested in a boat that was contracted to an American ship guarding company, but no Americans.

But please keep going. Don't let logic get in your way. :)
It was not a logical error, a small factual error but the connection is there. Better than alternative CTs. :P
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by putnanja »

This article by KP Nayar shows how the US discriminates. Its State Dept prevented arrest of Russian diplomats who were occupying lesser positions than Devyani claiming they had diplomatic immunity, but allowed Devyani's arrest. Read the article in full.

Just put some US diplomats in jail first and negotiate later ....

OUT OF PROPORTION- The US fears Russia, but has no such worries about India : K.P. Nayar
....
So when Preet Bharara, the attorney for the Southern District of New York, unsealed the criminal complaint against the Russians in court in his usual flashy style, reporters who cover Bharara expected at least a few of the 11 Russians still within the reach of New York’s law enforcement to be paraded before them: it would have been a precursor to Khobragade’s arrest and subsequent bail. But nothing of that sort happened. Instead, when Bharara’s men set out in quest of the alleged offenders, with handcuffs in their pockets, they were promptly restrained by the US state department, according to authoritative sources who spoke to this writer. The state department told Bharara’s office that all the 11 serving Russian diplomats on US soil had diplomatic immunity and could not be arrested.

How could that be? It has been ascertained that many of these 11 Russians are in far more junior positions than India’s deputy consul general — acting consul general at that time.
Yet the Obama administration told Bharara to take his hands off those 11 men and women and not go anywhere near those Russians still on American soil because they enjoy diplomatic immunity. But in Khobragade’s case, the same state department insisted that she does not enjoy immunity except in the discharge of her official duties. There is a clear double standard here. That is because the Americans fear Russia. They have no such worries about India.

Within minutes of Bharara unsealing his complaint, the Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said ominously that “we have many claims against American diplomats in Moscow. There are dozens of situations where we can make a complaint against them”. Offering an olive branch, though, for a negotiated settlement, Ryabkov added that “we don’t air them out in public”.

Last weekend, Russia’s macho foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, weighed in: “Foreign diplomats, including from America, regularly violate Russian laws.” He said embassies had been set up in each other’s capitals to resolve such issues, not to make “an information bomb out of it”. Because some of the Russian diplomats allegedly committed the insurance fraud in 2004, Lavrov had only ridicule for Bharara and his tactics. “If diplomats are seen violating the norms of behaviour and laws of their country of stay, why wait ten years. They probably wanted to stockpile more cases so that the figure would be more considerable.”

It is clear by now that not one of those Russian diplomats charged by Bharara will be touched. If the Americans act otherwise, Moscow will come down on Washington like a ton of bricks. The state department spokesperson, Marie Harf, was proportionately conciliatory: “We don’t think this should affect our bilateral relationship with Russia. Quite frankly, there are too many important issues we have to work on together.” The implication, on the one hand, is that with India there are no such important issues. On the other, White House knows that it can offer the Indian prime minister another state dinner and all will be forgiven. :roll:
...
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by saip »

venug wrote:^^^ are, throw the US guys in the latrine less cells first already, we can attribute reasons later.
I thought indian prison cells do not have toilets.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22872 »

:) TT complained about toilet in the prison, thought they have.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Victor »

TSJones wrote: What Americans were arrested? I haven't heard of any Americans arrested in Indian waters. I have heard of Ukrainian and eastern Europeans arrested in a boat that was contracted to an American ship guarding company, but no Americans.

But please keep going. Don't let logic get in your way. :)
India has an unfortunate history of being subjected to plausible denial via "Ukrainian and eastern European" bad buys driven by NATO folks. Look up Kim Davy and Peter Bleach (ex SAS) who dropped off hundreds of AK-47s in W. Bengal from a Latvian plane. Here we have the Seaman Guard Ohio loitering around for weeks in Indian waters with armed crew in an area that should be of no earthly interest at all to either Europeans or Americans and the chief engineer attempted suicide twice after arrest. Logic is not getting in the way here for sure.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by TSJones »

Bade wrote:
TSJones wrote: What Americans were arrested? I haven't heard of any Americans arrested in Indian waters. I have heard of Ukrainian and eastern Europeans arrested in a boat that was contracted to an American ship guarding company, but no Americans.

But please keep going. Don't let logic get in your way. :)
It was not a logical error, a small factual error but the connection is there. Better than alternative CTs. :P
Well, yes, I quite agree. It could have been gay American companions arrested in Indian waters with their floating rubber duckies and Mai Tai drinks. Oh, the horror! Were they stripped searched?

:rotfl:
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Victor »

saip wrote:
venug wrote:^^^ are, throw the US guys in the latrine less cells first already, we can attribute reasons later.
I thought indian prison cells do not have toilets.
I'm sure they do but those would likely be the desi squat style ones with a nalka and mug near floor level :D
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by putnanja »

TSJones wrote:
Bade wrote: It was not a logical error, a small factual error but the connection is there. Better than alternative CTs. :P
Well, yes, I quite agree. It could have been gay American companions arrested in Indian waters with their floating rubber duckies and Mai Tai drinks. Oh, the horror! Were they stripped searched?

:rotfl:
Nope, that is the exclusive domain of the pervert US rednecks :rotfl:
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

Pondering over the issue, I have my two cents. I believe there is love hate relationship between both the nations. US. Loves India because of its technological achievements within 60 years of independence and diversity and hates them because they had no part to play in rising India like rise of china. Same applies for their hate for other BRICS nations.

It is absolutely shameful behaviour for which I believe there is no justification whatsoever. Preet bharara seems to have taken leaf out of batman movies where attorney screws up everyone else. However, this one was little over board step.

I had been shouting over the roof top since last seven years why the heck do we bend over the back for these guys in everything. Every self respecting nation should be exactly behaving in the same way as others behave with you. Look at brazil and see how it treats Americans ? Guess there needs to be a entire new chapter which needs to be added on moral science and manners for Indian IFS cadre on how to reciprocate in kind to your friends and foes. Please please and please there are no friends of India and it will never be. The only thing that gives you respect in the world is your fear :twisted: when will we understand this ? :cry: looks like chanakya wrote in vain that strike terror in heart of your enemy in you want to have respect and dignity.
Last edited by ashish raval on 18 Dec 2013 04:00, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22872 »

Much better :)
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

LINK
.....
In New Delhi, India reacted sharply to the arrest and strip search of Khobragade and initiated several steps to downgrade privileges enjoyed by American diplomats and their families, including withdrawing of airport passes and stopping import clearances for the US Embassy. India also asked all US Consulate personnel and their families to turn in their ID cards immediately which will "now be downgraded on par with with what the US provides to our Consulates", sources said.


.....
India earlier summoned US Ambassador to New Delhi Nancy Powell and issued a demarche over the arrest of Khobragade. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon described the incident as "despicable and barbaric".

His strong comments came as Indian leaders, including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, refused to meet a US Congressional delegation as a mark of protest over the treatment meted out to the diplomat.

Yesterday, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Menon had cancelled their meetings with the US delegation.
....
So GOI was giving more than reciprocal amenties to the US personnel!!!
And this despite repeated US abuse of Indian diplomats in US, only excceded by TSP in Islamabad.

What idiots. The measures announced are in no way of magnitude comaprabale ot the hurt and humiliation that the US Dst Atty inflicted on the diplomat.
So what gives?
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Yayavar »

arrey! see the size and location of embassies....in the first flush of independence India allocated those. See the consulates India has in different parts of the world. Bogus locations and bogus buildings.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by ldev »

There are two issues here:

1. Whether Khobragade commited a crime

2. The treatment she received after the crime was discovered

Most high income couples who typically get domestic help will contact an agency. The domestic help is on the agency's payroll and the household pays the agency. There is always an element of wage arbitrage in these cases. However if there is a prima facie case of fraud, it is the applicant in these visa situations i.e. the agency which bears the brunt of the prosecution. In Khobragade's case, she directly made a false declaration, which in US law is a crime. Committing a crime has consequences for the average person which includes being handcuffed in the US. The only issue is whether Khobragade's diplomatic diplomatic status affords her protection from being treated in a manner similar to the average citizen i.e. handcuffing, strip search.
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by Dipanker »

O.k here is a contrarian view: So an Indian American prosecutor on the complaint of an Indian maid has the Indian consular staff arrested because she violated the law of which there is documentary proof, and it is all Uncle Sam's fault? Hypocrisy anyone?
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by member_22872 »

Idev ji your answer here:
Rony wrote:The mystery of why Devyani Khobragade should have paid $54,000 a year to Sangeeta Richards
According to the allegations against her, Khobragade and her maid had agreed that Khobragade would pay 30,000 rupees per month, which at the time was equivalent to $573.07. At 40 hours per week, with approximately 4.3 weeks in a month, $573.07 equates to a rate of $3.31 per hour. However, the complaint says, Khobragade instructed her maid to say that she would be paid $9.75 per hour, and not to say anything about being paid 30,000 rupees per month. Khobragade also instructed the maid to say that she would work 40 hours per week, with duty hours being 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Khobragade, it’s alleged, told the maid that the amount of $4,500 per month was a US prerequisite to get a visa.

Now, as important as it is to ask who decided to process the maid’s visa in India in the first place, given Khobragade’s salary, it is also important to ask as to where did this number of $4,500 come from?

Let’s do a quick math (with calculators): $9.75 x 40 (hours of work per week) is equal to $390. In a month with 4 weeks, Khobragade’s maid, Sangeeta Richard, would make $1560. In the five months of the year with five weeks, she would make $1950. A full time year (at 40 hours a week) is equal to 2080 hours, which means the annual salary for her would be $20,280, almost one third of what the US government wanted Khobragade to pay her maid – $54,000 annually.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a maid and housekeeper in the US earned an average median salary of $19,390 in 2011, or approximately $9.32 per hour. That year, there were 111, 600 individuals working such jobs in the country. In comparison, a restaurant cook’s median salary is $22,080; a security guard makes $23, 900; a pre-school teacher made $26, 620; a sports coach $28, 470; Bookkeeping, Accounting, & Audit Clerks made $34,740, while a bus driver made 35,720, and a marriage and family therapist’s media salary was $46,240, just a bit more than what Khobragade’s maid was supposed to be paid.

But then Sangeeta Richards was employed as a maid and housekeeper, not as a marriage and family therapist. Her salary should be closer to $20,000.

Can somebody please solve the mystery of why Sangeeta Richards, the maid of Devyani Khobragade, was to be paid $54,000 a year, and not $20,280?
SBajwa
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by SBajwa »

by Lokesh

However, the Americans mistreated our diplomats for violating a law that was earlier being bypassed with knowledge and blessings from the US state.
What does this mean?

A law broken in the precinct of New York City comes under the DA of that city. If other consulates (LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, D.C) are breaking this law with DA overlooking sooner or later they will be caught and prosecuted.

DA's are very busy and have to pick through which cases to take or not.

Ms. Devyani has committed a crime of perjury by paying less than minimum wage after agreeing to pay the minimum wage on Visa form (and signing it).

I am sure that what ever Mr. Bharara is doing is with the tacit agreement of the State Department.

State department of USA plays Chankian policies and let you do these "Crimes".

Also! Still a crime committed on the soil of USA is a crime which sooner or later is going to come back to haunt so these IFS officers need to understand to not commit any crimes.

BTW.. Mr. Bharara has also prosecuted scores of the nPaki wife beaters and drug dealer diplomats.
He did a very good job of the 9/11 criminals and that nPaki who tried to blow up the Times Square.

Beating your wife is a STATE CRIME in USA (all states) even if not in other countries (like Malsi countries)
Last edited by SBajwa on 18 Dec 2013 05:36, edited 2 times in total.
SBajwa
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by SBajwa »

O.k here is a contrarian view: So an Indian American prosecutor on the complaint of an Indian maid has the Indian consular staff arrested because she violated the law of which there is documentary proof, and it is all Uncle Sam's fault? Hypocrisy anyone?
Exactly!! Hypocrisy!! Indian diplomats have been so accustomed to abusing the Law in their own country along with other countries (like nPakistan) that they expect to do the same all over the world. It does not work that way!
Last edited by SBajwa on 18 Dec 2013 05:37, edited 1 time in total.
V_Raman
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Re: India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Post by V_Raman »

I don't think this is an issue of whether a crime has been committed or not. I think this is going on for some time now with other Indian diplomats/maids as well. US tolerated it in reciprocity for other extra privileges India provided US diplomats. Now this has happened, India will remove extra privileges as well -- hence the removal of barricades etc.

As to why US chose to not tolerate it in this case -- I still don't get it.
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