I
n a rare show of unity and solidarity, India’s fractious political parties have set aside their partisan differences to join hands with the government and the country’s diplomatic-strategic establishment to protest the arrest and stinging humiliation of an Indian diplomat in New York.
Scandalised by the manner in which Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade was arrested, handcuffed, strip-searched and subjected to other dignities, the Indian government has escalated pressure on the US with a clear message that it will not settle for anything less than an unconditional apology and withdrawal of all charges against her.
Deplorable, says PM
The mild-mannered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh broke his silence December 18 on the incident and termed the treatment meted out to the Indian diplomat by the US authorities as “deplorable.”
Responding to mounting outrage in the Indian parliament over the incident that marks a low in the much-trumpeted India-US relations, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid asserted that the government is determined and “will intervene effectively and specifically to ensure that dignity of the diplomat is preserved.” “It is my responsibility. We will bring back the diplomat (arrested in New York) and restore her dignity. If I fail to do it, I will not return to this House,” he said in Rajya Sabha (upper House). He reinforced this assurance in a statement in Lok Sabha (upper house). “First and foremost, our effort is to bring her out of this situation and then we will talk to the US government.”
The minister took the US head-on, asserting that the diplomat is “innocent” and said that the charges of visa violation and alleged exploitation of her domestic help was “a conspiracy.” “It is not illegality that she is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige,” he stressed.
Reciprocity: India hits back
I
ndia has taken a slew of retaliatory steps, including curtailing the privileges enjoyed by American diplomats and withdrawal of traffic barricades near the US embassy. In a set of unprecedented steps to underscore that it can’t be business as usual, New Delhi stopped imports of food and duty-free alcohol by the US embassy, withdrew special airport pass to the US diplomats and asked for details of salaries paid to Indian staff and domestic helps employed with the mission. At the same time, the Indian government has ensured that the security of the US embassy and American diplomats is not compromised in any way.
Vienna Convention: Letter and Spirit
The US has not responded adequately to India’s concerns and has tended to take refuge in legalese. In an initial reaction, the US had cited the Vienna Convention and said that Devyani Khobragade didn’t enjoy the diplomatic immunity as she was an official of the consulate general. This, according to experts and former diplomats, is a grave distortion of the letter and spirit of the Vienna Convention. The issue, they point out, is not so much about diplomatic immunity, but about the manner in which the Indian diplomat was arrested. Subjecting her to strip-search, cavity search and confining her with drug addicts is a brazen and wilful violation of the Vienna Convention. According to article 40 of the Vienna Convention, the receiving state should ensure that there is no attack on freedom, person and dignity of a consular official. In a conversation with India Writes, www.indiawrites.org, Lalit Mansingh, a former ambassador of India to the US and a former foreign secretary, underlined that the treatment meted out to Khobragade “is a gross violation of the Vienna Convention.” “If you apply article 40 of the Vienna convention, not only have their official agents carried out an attack against her freedom and person, but also against her dignity,” said Mansingh.
Speaking to indiawrites.org, Vivek Katju, a former diplomat who served as secretary (west) in India’s external affairs ministry, stressed that India should not settle for anything else than an unconditional apology and the withdrawal of charges against the Indian diplomat.
“National self-respect is above everything else. Let’s introspect. If people are not willing to sacrifice and stand up for their self-respect, this kind of incident will not stop,” said Katju.
Given the US’ attitude, India is not taking any chances. The government has transferred Khobragade to the country’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, which will entitle her to full diplomatic immunity. “We are committed to implementing the Vienna Conventions, will implement them fully and ask them to be implemented fully,” Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, told a television channel.
Across-the-board solidarity
Reflecting mounting outrage over the incident which seemed to bely the narrative of robust India-US relations, Arun Jaitley, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, (upper house) underlined that if we continue to conduct our foreign policy in a manner that we’re taken for granted, then these incidents will be repeated. “We should conduct our business as equals,” Mr Jaitley said. Mayawati, BSP leader and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, said that the UPA government should take up the incident very seriously.
Sitaram Yechury, leader of the CPM, a party known for its anti-American postures, underlined that the US is the worst policeman. “There have been many Cabinet members in NDA and UPA governments who have been subjected to such acts,” Yechury said.
On December 12, Khobragade was arrested on a street in New York as she was dropping her daughter to school in the morning and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges and alleged exploitation of her domestic help. She was charged with one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and five years in prison, respectively. To add insult to injury, she was subjected to what the US authorities called standard operating procedures that included being strip-searched, cavity-searched and swabbed for DNA after her arrest in New York
India’s National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon has described the treatment meted out to the Indian diplomat as “despicable and barbaric.”
Diplomats react
The incident has also elicited a chorus of full-throated condemnation from former diplomats. In a statement, the IFS Association, an influential body of diplomats, voiced its “strongest condemnation and outrage at the arrest and shameful treatment meted out by US authorities to one of its members, Dr. Devyani Khobragade, Deputy Consul General of India, New York.”
“The association is firmly of the view that the conduct of the US authorities was violative of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 and in violation of accepted norms and practice between civilised States.”
“Clearly, such action is unwarranted, excessive and exceptionable, and not in keeping with or conducive to the development of India’s friendly, wide ranging and cooperative relations with the United States based on mutual respect.”
“The humiliation was not just Dr. Khobragade’s, but India’s,” said the IFS association, encapsulating strong national outrage that has erupted in the wake of the much-publicised humiliation of an Indian diplomat and a young mother of two children.
Shadow on India-US ties?
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he US, however, has remained unapologetic, and hoped that “an isolated episode” should not “impact the bilateral relationship.” This may sound like a wilful misreading of strong public
sentiments in India and can only give more ammunition to critics who have been conjuring up scenarios of the India-US relations losing its lustre and momentum.
A well-rounded diplomatic relationship can’t thrive without public support. Incidents like these, which may have their legal dimensions and complexities that need to be addressed on a separate track, could end up reinforcing stereotypes of American arrogance and unilateralism which the world’s most powerful democracy can do without. Lalit Mansingh, an ardent backer of strong India-US relations, is disappointed and feels that this “aberration” may not impact “strong foundation” of India-US strategic partnership, but also stressed that if the US’ insensitivity discontinues, it will be bad news for the relationship, which has been famously described by US President Barack Obama as “the defining partnership of the 21st century.” “If they continue to show insensitivity and aggravate it, then all bets are off,” he said on a cautionary note.
Author Profile
- Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.
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