India-US Strategic News and Discussion

[pankajs]

US must withdraw charges or I'll fast unto death: Devyani Khobragade's father

"A gentleman by the name of Preet Bharara has issued a statement that the victim's family ( Sangeeta Richards) was evacuated to the US by the US government as there were attempts to bring her back and silence her. His statements tantamount to an attack on the Indian judiciary and the sovereignty of the nation,'' he said at a press conference here on Thursday.

Bharara's statement that the courts were trying to silence the victim made it seem that there was no rule of law in the country, said Khobragade. "He says the victim's family has been evacuated, as if India is at war and its citizens are not safe," said Khobragade.

[Lilo]

^ rgsrini ji,
SK ji is as usual being sarcastic.

[member_22872]

Where is this George guy? You name it American diplomats have done it all, from rapes to paedophilia and escaped justice. What buffoons:

Diplomatic Abuse not just for Indians]

From above:

According to court documents, a U.S. Department of State diplomat and her husband tricked an Ethiopian woman into accompanying them as their domestic servant to Japan, where they held her virtually as a prisoner in their home and forced her to work for them for less than $1 per hour and where the husband repeatedly raped the woman with his diplomat wife’s consent. A Virginia federal judge awarded the victim $3.3 million in damages on a default judgment against the couple. The diplomat retired from the State Department with full pension and then fled the country.

The victim, identified only as “Jane Doe,” told the court she was hired by the Howards in 2008 as a live-in housekeeper at the couple’s home in Yemen, where Linda Howard worked at the U.S. embassy. Doe says she agreed to move with the couple to Japan after Linda Howard was transferred to the embassy there and that she was promised wages of $300 per month, time off each week, health insurance and a safe place to live and work.

Once in Japan, Doe says, Russell Howard repeatedly raped her, forced her to perform oral sex and sexually assaulted her. Doe says Linda Howard was complicit in her husband’s sexual abuse, telling Doe that she should gratify her husband and make him happy. Doe, who speaks little English and no Japanese, says the Howards also used nonphysical force, such as isolation and threats of deportation, to coerce her into servitude.

Justice?

After five months in Japan, Doe says, she fled the Howards’ home in the middle of the night. She says that after she reported the abuse, the State Department removed Linda Howard from her overseas post and launched an investigation into the Howards.

Once back in Washington and while the so-called investigation took place, Howard, according to her LinkedIn profile, worked among other places as a recruiter and assessor for people seeking jobs with the State Department. She tells us on LinkedIn that she received a Superior Honor Award, with cash bonus, from State in June 2011, which would have been well after any investigation commenced. Her LinkedIn profile also references Cleared Connections, an employment site for government workers, suggesting she retained her security clearance from State.

Linda Howard acted in bad faith by telling the court that she was unaware of any upcoming overseas job-related travel and then two weeks later retiring and leaving the country, the magistrate judge said. She also refused to appear for a deposition as ordered by the court and refused to communicate with Doe’s attorneys to facilitate discovery as ordered by the court, Magistrate Judge Jones said.

Now, a question: if the allegations are true– and a Virginia court says they are– Mr. and Mrs. Howard committed felonies on federal property. Mr. Howard is an Australian citizen, so maybe it is a huge guess to wonder if they are outback there. Has the FBI been called in by State, as the FBI has jurisdiction over crimes on federal property.

Murder

Earlier this year in Kenya, an American diplomat who police say was speeding crossed the center line in his SUV and rammed into a full mini-bus, killing a father of three whose widow is six months pregnant. The embassy then rushed the American and his family out of Kenya the next day, leaving the crash victims with no financial assistance to pay for a funeral and for hospital bills for the eight or so others who were seriously injured.

“It is difficult for me to handle this matter because my kids need to go to school. They need everything, basic needs,” the widow said. “And we have no place to stay because we have to pay the rent. We have no money. … Even if my kids are sick I have no money to take them to hospital.”

The U.S. embassy commented “The embassy is fully cooperating with the Kenyan authorities as they investigate the accident and work to aid the victims.”

Abuse and Visa Fraud

Harold Countryman, along with his spouse Kimberly, was a U.S. diplomat assigned to Seoul, Korea. Before leaving the country, he and his wife hired a Cambodian woman to work for them in the U.S. Harold falsified the necessary U.S. visa application to get the Cambodian woman into the U.S., falsely claiming he would pay her minimum wage. Instead, once in the U.S., the Countrymans “Held her passport,” says Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Her wages came out to roughly a dollar an hour.” The woman was berated and sometimes assaulted. She was not allowed to leave the Countrymans’ house. Luckily, a neighbor noticed something wrong and called the cops, who luckily took it all seriously. This story has a semi-happy ending of sorts: The couple pleaded guilty to visa fraud, and are paying the Cambodian woman $50,000 in restitution. Harold Countryman, the diplomat, only received probation, however.

Alleged Forced Abortions and Inter-Office Sex

Ms. Kerry Howard, the community-liaison officer at the U.S. Consulate in Naples, claims she was run out of her job with the State Department after complaining about the consul general’s alleged office trysts with subordinates and hookers. One subordinate was allegedly forced to have an abortion.

Ms. Howard stated she had been bullied, harassed and forced to resign after she exposed U.S. Consul General Donald Moore’s alleged security-threatening shenanigans in the Naples, Italy, office. She explained that when she revealed allegations about her boss, State Department officials swept it under the rug, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint she filed with the Department’s Office of Civil Rights. State tried to disappear the issue by transferring Moore out of the country, but now the FBI is allegedly involved.

Sexual Assault

Chuck Lisenbee, a former State Department Beirut security officer who was being probed for allegedly sexually assaultinglocal guards, is now a special agent in Washington for the Office of Diplomatic Vehicles, Enforcement and Outreach, according to a State Department phone directory. Agents were only given three days to investigate the allegations against him, according to a memo seen by the Post. It is alleged that Lisenbee first got into trouble when he tried to make out with a fellow (male) security officer in Baghdad. His depredations against local guards in Liberia were then discovered. Lisenbee started every lunch with prayer because “Jesus Christ, my lord and savior, is the most important thing in my life” (exact quote heard by this source on at least 50 occasions).

U.S. Embassy Prostitution

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has had its share of problems. In the early part of this decade, the embassy paid-for-dormitory for domestics (so they did not have to live with their diplomatic masters) was found full of women not connected with the embassy, some of whom were prostituting themselves on and out of U.S. government property. The public restroom just outside the dorm was a known quickie spot for night time taxi drivers looking for sex. Things were handled nice and quietly by State and the story stayed out of the news and out of the taxpayers’ attention.

Sexual Solicitation of a Minor

Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman was allowed to retire in July of this year. A State Department investigator believed Gutman solicited “sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children.” Gutman and members of Clinton’s security detail were also accused of hired prostitutes.

Sex Tapes and Affairs

Brett McGurk — a former senior adviser to the ambassador to Iraq — was appointed the deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran in August, according to the State Department Web site. He was President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to Iraq but withdrew after his extramarital affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter was exposed, alongside saucy emails sent from his official government account and an alleged sex tape. Apparently, investigators never interviewed McGurk because Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, intervened.

Economic Enslavement?

A bit further back, one Tokyo embassy U.S. diplomat identifiedhere as Thurmond Borden, had domestic troubles. The story is that in 1993, 40 year-old Lucia Martel was working as a domestic in Manila. In March of that same year, Mr. Borden was visiting the Philippines on vacation with his Filipino wife, and the couple was looking for a woman. Mr. and Mrs. Borden offered Lucia a monthly wage of about Y30,000 (USD300). To comply with the Japanese immigration regulations, a written contract was signed that contained very different language. The contract stated her working conditions as six days/week, eight hours/day, a monthly salary of Y150,000 (USD1500), and an overtime pay of 125%. The contract papers were submitted both to the U.S. Embassy and to the Japanese Immigration Bureau.

Lucia started working at Borden’s residence October 16, 1993. Despite her contract, she was forced to work from six in the morning to ten in the evening, and was not allowed to rest even on Christmas and New Years according to reports.

On May 22, 1994, reports were that Lucia complained to Mrs. Borden and the latter confiscated Lucia’s original contract, return air-ticket and Alien Registration Certificate. This Certificate is very important for expatriates in Japan. It must be carried at all times and if caught without it, one may end up being taken into custody by the police. Lucia went to the Naka-ward municipal office to have a new card issued. The shocked office staff who heard her story contacted the police. A Japanese cop visited the Borden’s residence to take Lucia’s Registration Certificate back from Mrs. Borden. Mr. Borden, returning from his work, was said to have become enraged. He allegedly shouted, “Go back to the Philippines!” to Lucia. Lucia feared that she might be assaulted. She fled the residence taking none of her belongings except the clothes she was wearing.

Lucia eventually tried to sue the Borden’s, and organized protest marches outside the U.S. embassy. The State Department, however, claimed diplomatic immunity on Borden’s behalf and the Japanese legal system dropped the case. State Department records list Borden now as the head of the Consular Section in Jakarta where, among other tasks, he has responsibility for issuing maid visas to U.S. diplomats’ domestic help bound for the U.S.

[member_22872]

Duplicate deleted

[Rudradev]

Lilo Ji,

I have a strong feeling that Obama's "Pivot to Asia" is not just about confronting China... it is at least as much about containing Indian expansion towards the east. Remember that Def Secy Leon Pannetta at least once publicly described India as being among the US' "enemies".

The Pivot, then, isn't about increasing US military influence off China's Pacific coast. Between Japan, Taiwan and Australia the US has plenty of muscle there already-- not to mention Guam and bases further in the rear.

The Pivot is about establishing a new axis of US influence that spears both Indian and Chinese areas of interest... and it runs through Myanmar and Bangladesh. This will be a valuable staging area for US adventures in our common backyard, and one that is relatively more stable and reliable than Pakistan (the US' regional ally of choice for the past 60 years.) The GWB government initially hoped to co-opt India itself into the Pivot as a pliant proxy state, but sometime during the refusal of India to sign the Nuke Liability Bill, or our dismissal of the various EULAs and CISMOAs that were being thrust at us by Washington, that delusion quickly faded.

Dan Mozena (as a servant of the Kerry State Dept) is plainly on a mission to establish this Pivot in Bangladesh. As in Pakistan, the US thinks it can accomplish this by allying with a hive of rabid Jama'ati Islamists (and Islamist elements of the armed forces) under Khaleda Zia's burqa of democracy. The consequences for India of the US' cultivation of EXACTLY these types in Pakistan is plain for us to see. We would be stupid to allow it to happen on our eastern flank as well.

This is one front on which it is Indian and Chinese interests, rather than Indian and US interests, that show greater potential for convergence.

If we look at old maps of the Japanese Empire circa 1940... those geographical areas correspond roughly to the "Pivot" of countries where the US would like to retain primacy of influence, in order to effectively strap down both India and China, which are seen as its potential rivals in the new century.

[Prem Kumar]

Am re-posting this link because this thread moves so fast. Please read this for a complete chronology of events.

Its very clear that this was a cold & calculated action by the U.S State Department. A mere apology wouldnt suffice. US must be made to pay:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/in ... ident.html

What I get from reading that article is that Khobragade is very vindictive and had Richard's family arrested when Richard threatened to expose her.

And pray how did you arrive at this wonderful conclusion?

[Madhusudhan]

There is definitely a hidden agenda here. If you include Room & Board, Food, Medical Expenses, Airline Tickets, Other perks, The amount paid to this maid will easily far exceed minimum wage. No reason to sexually assault a diplomat from a so-called ally. Hopefully we get to know the real reason & the Indian government has the testicular fortitude to reply in kind.....

[pankajs]

Where is this George guy? You name it American diplomats have done it all, from rapes to paedophilia and escaped justice. What buffoons:

No ..No saar. Those are all Indians in disguise wonlee ... Whites pure and fair as snowflakes would not commit such crimes .. It is only the dirty dark skinned Indians who do all such heinous crimes.

And it was Indians who fought a civil war between states on the issue of slavery ..

[sanjaykumar]

^^sanaykumar,
Quote:
"removing barricades from embassy is hitting below the belt"


Are you serious? and custodial rape of the diplomat of a friendly country is not? Willful inaction on repeated complaints from Indian embassy staffer on absconding maid is not? Human trafikking of people who have cases pending in Indian courts is not? Oh please...

Anyway, the barricades were removed in retaliation to the conversion of DC parking lot to a public one. There was an article on the Hindu about this, which "ramana" had posted earlier in the thread.


Well yes there are nuances and ironies etc, but when all is said and done, does India want a truck bombing because of an act of omission or commission, even of the Chinese embassy, on its conscience.

[chaanakya]

How Devyani Khobragade was insulted, humiliated in US

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was strip-searched and had to undergo a body cavity search, was insulted and humiliated like a hardened drug addict or someone who was known to transport illegal drugs.

comment in DC

by Ryan Acres (not verified) on Thu, 2013-12-19 04:33

Is anyone aware of the shocking fact that Doctoral Researchers who are granted an F-1 Visa by the U.S. Govt. are NEVER paid the minimum wage of $9 per hour for their valuable scientific research in the United States? Doctoral Researchers work for 12 to 14 hours every day, 7 days a week but are paid even less than a house-maid or truck driver. Despite protest from scientists engineers and other researchers, Tenured University Professors in the United States have been exploiting poor scientists and Engineers from India for the last several decades using this F-1 Visa loophole. Also, the spouses of Doctoral Researchers who are on F-2 Visa are NEVER allowed to apply for a work permit. Devyani's maid, on the contrary, did not pay for her house rent (in NYC it's roughly $3,000 for a 2BD apartment), food, clothing, electricity and miscellaneous utility expenses. So if you do the math, you will immediately realize that the maid living in a posh New York apartment without paying for rent, groceries and utilities should actually end up paying a large sum of money to her Dr. Devyani instead.

[ramana]

sanajykumar, In the Hindu article it was clearly mention that the barricades were being moved to gain access and parking in (A)Nayaya Street. The number of police is not reduced per teh DSP in charge of the area. So your comments are uninformed. The embassy has a lot of setback from the street. And Delhi is not Islamabad nor Kabul. There has been very little threat to US embassy in Delhi.



Calcutta Telegraph has a graphic of the barricade removal. Its not a real retaliatory move for DK arrest and humilation but for opening up a a hitherto closed parking lot near Indian Embassy in Washington DC to general public.

Image below




BTW Chinese Embassy is right next door and the French neither have asked for barricades.

Atleast on this forum people need to exercise their minds.

[krisna]

RD what you are saying makes sense in larger scheme of things, but the present epiosde has potential to torpedo this very scheme of uncle.

elephant getting pissed is no funny thing. with elections looming near it is a near stupid and failed mission.

They could have done in a usual behind the scenes show of bringing the elpehant with their vision which is easier than public humiliation.
even if congis accept it others (in India) will up the ante.

somehow I am not convnced with this arrognace from uncle.

They need to be put down a few notches from their pedestal. The question is how incluidng the reasons for this behaviour.

jmts.

[pankajs]

US departments, embassy aided Richards's escape

An Indian-American attorney in New York, the US Justice and State Departments as well as the American Embassy in New Delhi worked in tandem to “evacuate” the family of Sangeeta Richard from India just two days before her employer and Indian Foreign Service Officer Devyani Khobragade was arrested in Big Apple.

Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, himself, admitted that the American government had “evacuated” Sangeeta’s husband Philip Richard and the couple’s two children from India on December 10 last. “This office and the US Department of Justice are compelled to make sure that victims, witnesses and their families are safe and secure while cases are pending,” he said in a statement, defending American Government’s role in evacuation of the family, although Philip was named accused along with his wife, Sangeeta, in an FIR lodged by Khobragade in Delhi on July 5 last.

<snip>

The New York Police Department and US Department of State took little action on the complaints and requests from Khobragade and the Indian government to help find Sangeeta. It has, however, now come to light that Sangeeta was in fact over the past six months hatching a plot to get rest of her Delhi-based family to New York and prepare ground for securing Green Cards (permanent residency in US) for herself, her husband and her children. Sangeeta was helped by “Access Immigration”, a law firm specializing in immigration related maters, which drew up an elaborate plan and surprisingly managed to get support from within the US government – particularly Department of State and Department of Justice.

<snip>

The Access Immigration later managed to get the US attorney for the southern district of New York and launch an investigation by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the Department of State into alleged exploitation of Sangeeta by Khobragade. The law firm also helped her apply for a T-visa – a particular category of US visa exclusively reserved for the victims of human trafficking and their families.

[member_22733]

GWji was here trying to civilize us savages. All that he had to say was : Resistance is futile

One thing is our babus do have a long memory. The politicos might be forgiving, but babus are going to find it a bit difficult to forgive.

[sanjaykumar]

Ramanaji, I have been following this fairly closely. Please use judgement when analysing members' posts. Most of the users on this board would score very well on conventional metrics of aptitude and intellect. I trust them to draw their own conclusions.

[ramana]

A visa here and visa there will take care of all savages. Otherwise local sepoys will put spy case and haraas them just as the ISRO scientists were.

So long as we dot have belief in our own and put more faith in others this will happen.

Meanwhile more nautanki in Reno


Hindu reports:
US man charged with planning terror in India
If that guy had hleped ISI he would have got protection and immunity from US just like David Gilani.

[pankajs]

Khurshid raises rhetoric on Devyani Khobragade case

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has now alleged a “larger conspiracy” and “irrational behaviour” by US authorities in the case of India’s deputy consul general, Devyani Khobragade, arrested in New York on December 12 and then allowed to be released on bail.

<snip>

“I leave it upon you to make a distinction over irrational behaviour (by US authorities) and the larger conspiracy (of) which we were, of course, not aware of. After reaching there, the concerned (India-based domestic assistant), who was entitled to several facilities and emoluments, realised that she needed more money and wanted to stay back in the US and she did what she intended to do. I cannot help but conclude what transpired (sic) in between. But she definitely utilised us to get a permanent citizenship there. It is part of a larger racket that goes on, of reaching a foreign destination and then seek permanent residency there,” Khurshid told Business Standard on the sidelines of an annual gathering here.

<snip>

While India has taken several steps as a response to the treatment of the 1999-batch IFS officer, the plan is to now “simply give them (US) a cold shoulder,” said a senior MEA official. Sources have also indicated that Khurshid’s refusal to receive the call from Kerry was a “gesture of snub”, as he wanted to “express his displeasure over the entire issue.”

I do not agree with this "cold shoulder" approach .. better keep striping facilities granted to the US diplomats, enforce strict compliance with Indian law, etc but keep talking at opportunities.

[ashish raval]

^^ guess this calls for closure of American embassy in Delhi then. Can someone file complaint against American embassy based in India ?

There are 32 guests watching the thread, needless to say who they will be

Guess khans are being exposed to the world everyday with their tantrums

Seems to me snowdown was correct after all !!

[sivab]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 667159.cms

No retroactive immunity for Khobragade, US says

WASHINGTON: The US state department said on Thursday that any diplomatic immunity for Devyani Khobragade, the Indian consular official charged with visa fraud, would start from the day she is confirmed to the new job at the United Nations (to where New Delhi has reassigned her), and such immunity will not apply retroactively.

State department spokesperson Marie Hart said at the daily briefing that Washington is yet to receive any official notice from the UN regarding the re-accreditation, but indicated that any re-assignment that comes about as a result will not necessarily stop the judicial process against Khobragade.

"We'd like to see the judicial process play out," Hart said. "Nobody is walking away from the charges... the judicial process is independent of the state department"

Hart's remarks, in effect, meant that the state department, even as it tried to contain and repair the damage from the diplomatic fiasco amid hectic negotiations with the Indian government, deferred to the justice department in proceeding with the case against Khobragade. "Does it look like it will end any time soon?" Hart said bleakly when asked when she expected the matter to be resolved.

The spokesperson skirted questions on the reported rift between the state department and the justice department, but asserted there is no pressure on the US attorney's office to drop the case against Khobragade.

She also confirmed that the US government had taken steps to re-unite the housekeeper - known in MEA parlance as India-based Domestic Assistant (IbDA) - with her family that had been evacuated from New Delhi. "We are aware of the existence of allegations that the family was intimidated in India. We take those allegations serious," she said in response to the rationale behind the evacuation.

She also confirmed that the father-in-law of the IbDA was employed by a US diplomat of the American embassy in New Delhi in a personal capacity.

When a journalist described a similar case involving a Saudi diplomat and asked about the discrepancy in the treatment in the Indian case, Hart said "each case is different" and she did not want to make a comparison.

Another confirmation from horse's mouth that this was well planned in advance. Probably Kerry will get some brownie points from TSP.

[ramana]

Sanjay Kumar,
Ok Look at the picture. The main entrance with the large setback is on Shanti marg. The Visa section where the barricades were is near (A)Nayaa Marg. And still has a barricade which narrows the street.
The Police officer in charge did say no reduction in proximate security. So why this grenade?


---
pankajs,
Still how does removing import free liquor permits hurt them? I dont think the measures implemented are substantial or retaliatory. There are mere pinpricks to show pique not anger.

India needs to recall the Indian Ambassador.

[JTull]

ramana, from what I understand there's no Indian Ambassador to US at the moment. The new one is about to fly out, but now don't know how it is going to pan out.

BTW, (warning, could be untrue) i read somewhere that the new appointee's son tweeted that his wife is a US citizen. I find this very interesting, with GoI embedding such people into key positions who could clearly have conflict of interest.

[vivek.rao]

Could it be that Preeta Bahara target Indians to further his career because that's what he does to grow? Finds weak Indian as targets; shows his machoness and claimed as tough on crime. He caught Rajat Gupta, Srilankan guy but let all Wall street guys who are not Indians.

[Lilo]

Khurshid raises rhetoric on Devyani Khobragade case - Business Standard

So now suddenly the statements of India's MEA is "rhetoric" for the traitors in Business Standard ?
#Paidmedia #Traitormedia

Note how most of the ministers statements are put within quotations as if they cannot be considered to be truth unless validated by turd parties (Al-Beeb, WaPo , NYT etc).

[Prasad]

Some more talk - http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/440598/ind ... -case.html
Sardesai actually makes sense for once and conducts the show without shouting!

[nachiket]

Hope the govt. is looking at options to smuggle Khobragade out of the US clandestinely. It doesn't look like the SD is willing to relent. Getting her and her family back to India by hook or by crook is paramount. She must not be allowed to be held hostage. Disguise her and give her a passport with a false name if necessary or smuggle her over the border into Mexico, but get her out.

[ramana]

ramana, from what I understand there's no Indian Ambassador to US at the moment. The new one is about to fly out, but now don't know how it is going to pan out.

BTW, (warning, could be untrue) i read somewhere that the new appointee's son tweeted that his wife is a US citizen. I find this very interesting, with GoI embedding such people into key positions who could clearly have conflict of interest.

Then delay sending him to DC. Anyways he wont get accredited soon by US to show their pique.

[sanjaykumar]

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/1 ... r-indians/


Thus my reference to competent counter intelligence in the first few posts. All major nations play the game. It is inevitable where humans have a modicum of freedom and worst where they have power or authority over the weak.. The boozing, whoring, drug taking, murdering is never exceptional.

Though I gotta admit, some of the abuses described here are pretty extreme even for living-life-American-size. This is from a whistle blower. So it is only anecdotal. Multiply by 1000 to get an idea of the nature of the issue.

[KLNMurthy]

Judging by the number of comments on US and UK media sites from westerners saying caste system blah blah, assuming that DK is a high caste exploiter of low caste Sangeeta, I wonder if the State dept imagined that, DK being an SC, no one in "high-caste" establishment will care that much, and won't go beyond token protest as was the case with Modi visa.

We can't underestimate American ignorance and stupidity, with arrogance to match, and how far up the food chain it goes.

[ManjaM]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 667159.cms

The US state department said on Thursday that any diplomatic immunity for Devyani Khobragade, the Indian consular official charged with visa fraud, would start from the day she is confirmed to the new job at the United Nations (to where New Delhi has reassigned her), and such immunity will not apply retroactively.

This will shut the door on India claiming immunity for DK after being posted to the UN mission.

"We'd like to see the judicial process play out," Hart said. "Nobody is walking away from the charges... the judicial process is independent of the state department"

In any case they don't appear to be willing to withdraw charges.

Hart's remarks, in effect, meant that the state department, even as it tried to contain and repair the damage from the diplomatic fiasco amid hectic negotiations with the Indian government, deferred to the justice department in proceeding with the case against Khobragade. "Does it look like it will end any time soon?" Hart said bleakly when asked when she expected the matter to be resolved.

It appears that this relationship is headed downhill and they are perfectly ok with that. To my untrained eye, US appears to be readying to downgrade the relationship with India ahead of the expected government change in 2014. This downgraded relationship would be a new datum from which the new GoI will have to negotiate and make concessions to US in order to restore the relationship to levels before this outrage.

[Cosmo_R]

Then delay sending him to DC. Anyways he wont get accredited soon by US to show their pique.

The new Amby is S. Jaishanker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Jaishankar

Jaishankar was born in New Delhi, India. He is the son of prominent Indian strategic affairs analyst, commentator, and civil servant K. Subrahmanyam. Jaishankar is also the brother of historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam.

He is a graduate of St. Stephen’s College at the University of Delhi, and has an M.A. in Political Science and an M.Phil. and PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he specialised in nuclear diplomacy.

Anyone know his views?

Added later:

"Though Jaishankar may not have served in Beijing before or hasn't been posted in the East Asia division either, he is said to be a seasoned diplomat with the ability to handle complex issues. He is proficient in Russian and knows Japanese (his wife is a Japanese) and Hungarian as well. "

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jaish ... na/488064/

[ManjaM]

Hope the govt. is looking at options to smuggle Khobragade out of the US clandestinely. It doesn't look like the SD is willing to relent. Getting her and her family back to India by hook or by crook is paramount. She must not be allowed to be held hostage. Disguise her and give her a passport with a false name if necessary or smuggle her over the border into Mexico, but get her out.

Is it possible for DK and family to camp out at the embassy and not venture out while this issues gets resolved, since the embassy can be considered safe zone for her at present?
Additionally, how long before it is possible for sneaking her out of there?

[sanjaykumar]

Not really, the new dispensation will be embraced by Republicans.


And yes, this spectacle will end soon.

[ManjaM]

Theirs is a weird dichotomy, one one hand lots of Repubs talk of doing away with minimum wage and on the other hand, most FoxNewsish boards are wailing about how DK exploited her help by not paying minimum wage.

[Cosmo_R]

[quote="nachiket"] Hope the govt. is looking at options to smuggle Khobragade out of the US clandestinely. It doesn't look like the SD is willing to relent. Getting her and her family back to India by hook or by crook is paramount. She must not be allowed to be held hostage. Disguise her and give her a passport with a false name if necessary or smuggle her over the border into Mexico, but get her out./quote]

Not a chance Sundance. The FBI and NYPD are just waiting for that to happen. I don't have much faith in IFS cloak and dagger stuff.

It will now have to be an 'exchange'.

[nachiket]

Not a chance Sundance. The FBI and NYPD are just waiting for that to happen. I don't have much faith in IFS cloak and dagger stuff.

IFS has no cloak and dagger skills. They'll have to take the help of our intelligence agencies. I agree that the Americans will be watching the embassy, but it can be done with careful planning.

It will now have to be an 'exchange'.

US must have warned their diplomutts. All of them will be extra careful now not to let us get any excuse to arrest them.

[ramana]

Theirs is a weird dichotomy, one one hand lots of Repubs talk of doing away with minimum wage and on the other hand, most FoxNewsish boards are wailing about how DK exploited her help by not paying minimum wage.

Those are EJish point of view.


None of them talk about the room and board in a swanky 24th floor New York Apartment and the light work with time off as the hubby did most of the housework as admitted by the maid.
So where did the heavy overtime come form?

At a minmum Bharara is fully bhara or was taken for ride by the maid.
At a maximum the US govt machinery got shown for it Duplicity!
Spiriting away people from India
Violating the Vienna Convention
Violating their won guidelines to show Dk her aukad.
And having female spokepersons of State Dept justify repugnant cavity searches on diplomats to the world!!!
------------
nachiket CosmoR told you and should take hint and not show more expertise.

[member_22733]

The only way out of this is by increasing the cost of harming DK to a very very high and painful level. It has to be a verifiable credible capability to inflict some kind of pain, but that is about the only way it can be done.

[sivab]

Nirupama Rao Verified account
@NMenonRao

Was India's Ambassador to U.S 2011- 2013. Foreign Secy of India 2009-11. Wife, mother, poetry and music enthusiast.

T.P.Sreenivasan ‏@Sreeniv 17 Dec

Reciprocal action in Devyani case is welcome. But it should be calibrated in such a way that no permanent damage done to India-US relations

Nirupama Rao ‏@NMenonRao 17 Dec

@Sreeniv Yes; think each move through carefully. With foresight and reason. The relationship's not for burning.

Nirupama Rao ‏@NMenonRao 21h

@KapilSharmaDC @sreeniv Many lessons to be learnt. Need for clean dissection. This for two governments. But no inquisitions .

Nirupama Rao ‏@NMenonRao 9h

@KapilSharmaDC @dhume @sreeniv 3 months ago parking space for our Embassy cars Opp Emb in DC was made open to all cars. #securityhazard

[rgosain]

The UPA administration is a glorified NGO that seized power in 2004 via a colour revolution. The next government would do well to start by shutting down the plethora of NGOs that are funded from the US, in effect setting whatever is left of the engagement back to where it was in 1999, when India had a more independant, confident and assertive worldview.
Finally, Headley's extradition and that of his handlers should now asserted as there is nothing left in this vaunted engagement
This would be a new data-point for any negotiation.

[krithivas]

Hope GoI has a large security perimeter around Devyani to protect her from some crazy tea party right winger or Christian evangelical supremacist.