Diplomat does not enjoy immunity: US State Dept

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The standoff over the arrest of Indian Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade in New York continued on Saturday with the US State department reportedly stating that she was not covered by the Vienna convention on consular relations. The reaction from the US came after Khobragade was arrested and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Friday summoned US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell to convey India`s "shock" over "absolutely unacceptable" treatment meted out to Khobragade. Khobragade, 39, was on Thursday arrested and later released on a USD 250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court. She was taken into custody on a street as she was dropping her daughter to school at 9 am yesterday after the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, India-born Preet Bharara, announced charges of visa fraud against her. Bharara alleged that Khobragade made false statements in a visa application for an Indian national employed as a babysitter and housekeeper at her home in New York. While Khobragade is Deputy Consul General at the Consulate here, she was serving as its acting head at the time of her arrest. With PTI Inputs