Khurshid says India finds U.S subjecting its diplomat to indignity unacceptable

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here today that the kind of indignity the Indian Diplomat Devyani Khobragade was subjected to in the United States was unacceptable and the Government of India was doing whatever it can to address the issue.

Speaking to the media, Salman Khurshid said that India had communicated to the United States its feelings both as a reaction to the steps taken by a country, which is 'friendly', and also its reaction to the extreme level of distress that the diplomat was subjected to. "This kind of indignity is unacceptable," said Khurshid.

"We have expressed our deep distress and sense of disquiet, that has been very strongly felt. Whatever could be done is being done. It is in process. We have not only put in motion of what would be an effective way of addressing to this issue," he said.

"There are some larger questions involved, but we are going to address the immediate concerns first. I do not want to say anything in haste. We are taking this case very seriously,' he added.

India's Deputy Counsel general Devyani Khobragade, 39, was on Thursday arrested for presenting false documents for a visa application for her Indian origin babysitter and housekeeper at her home in New York.

She was taken into custody after she dropped her daughter to school at around 9 a.m. She was charged with presenting false documents and visa fraud, which has maximum sentence of five and ten years of imprisonment respectively.

The Indian Embassy in Washington reacted strongly on the issue and released a statement saying it "immediately conveyed its strong concern" to the US Government over the action taken against Devyani Khobragade.

The Indian Embassy in a statement said, "The US side have been urged to resolve the matter with due sensitivity, taking into account the Diplomatic status of the officer concerned.