New Ambassador Jaishankar Wants Withdrawal of Charges

New Indian Ambassador to the U.S. S. Jaishankar Dec. 27 met top officials of the State Department to convey India’s strong protest over the arrest of its senior diplomat in New York over visa fraud charges, even though she had diplomatic immunity.

Immediately after presenting copies of his credentials to the Office of Chief of Protocol, Jaishankar met Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.

Both the meetings were dominated by the arrest of Devyani Khobragade in New York last month, which India insists is in violation of the Vienna Convention.

During the meeting, Jaishankar is believed to have sought withdrawal of the charges, and strongly objected to the manner in which the U.S. government evacuated Indian citizens — family members of the maid of the Indian diplomat — undermining the judicial sovereignty of India.

No official details of the meetings were available.

Jaishankar has taken over as the top Indian envoy at a time when the two countries are engaged in intensive talks to resolve their differences over the arrest of Khobragade.

Jaishankar, who was earlier Indian ambassador to China, succeeds Nirupama Rao.

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