Devyani Khobragade case: US appears to speak in two voices

New Delhi/New York: US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed regret over the handling of the arrest of the Indian diplomat, in a phone call to India's National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

Ms Khobragade was handcuffed, strip-searched, swabbed for DNA and subjected to a cavity search and was then placed in a cell with drug addicts following her arrest last week in New York for alleged visa fraud. (Read)

"As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the Secretary empathizes with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms. Khobragade's arrest," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

But a few hours later, the prosecutor, US Attorney Preet Bharara, strongly defended his action saying, "Ms. Khobragade was accorded courtesies well beyond what other defendants." In a highly unusual move for a federal prosecutor, he said in a lengthy statement that the Indian diplomat was "even given coffee" and allowed  phone calls during her detention. (Read full statement)

He claims that the US Department of State agents arrested Ms Khobragade discreetly and not in front of her children last week and that she wasn't handcuffed or restrained. He says she was searched by a female deputy marshal in private but calls it standard procedure for "every defendant, rich or poor, American or not."

Mr Bharara has alleged that  there has been "misinformation and factual inaccuracy" in reporting on the Khobragade case which is "creating an inflammatory atmosphere."

NDTV has learnt that Ms. Khobragade was handcuffed at the Federal Court.

Ms Khobragade's arrest and strip-search caused outrage in India; it was discussed in Parliament where leaders across political party made angry statements. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called her treatment "deplorable".

In the United States, the biggest shock has been a slew of steps by New Delhi that the United States calls retaliation and India calls reciprocity. By lifting security barriers outside the US embassy in Delhi, India touched a raw nerve, triggering a huge exercise in damage control. (Read)