This Dec 8, 2013 photo shows Devyani Khobragade, during the India Studies Stony Brook University fund raiser event.
Secretary of State John Kerry called a senior Indian official on Wednesday to express his "regret" over an incident in which law enforcement officials in New York arrested an Indian diplomat last week and strip-searched her.
Kerry's call to the official, Shivshankar Menon, India's national security adviser, was disclosed by the State Department in a statement.
The Indian government has complained bitterly about the treatment of the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade. In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the arrest deplorable, Indian newspaper editorials expressed outrage, and the police removed barriers meant to protect the U.S. Embassy.
Khobragade, 39, was accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for a housekeeper, and Indian newspapers said she had been subjected to repeated body cavity searches.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which handled her detention, said that she had been subjected to the standard detention procedures for "arrestees within the general prisoner population."
On Wednesday, Kerry sought to ease tensions with India over the episode.
"As the 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," the State Department said in its statement.
"He expressed his regret, as well as his concern, that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," the statement added.
© 2013, The New York Times News Service