U.S taking advantage of a weak government: Balbir Punj

BJP leader Balbir Punj Commenting on the arrest of New York based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on Saturday, said the U.S was trying to take advantage of a weak prime minister and a weak government in India.

"This is the height of irresponsibility on the part of the U.S. They are trying to take advantage, like Pakistan and China, of a weak prime minister and a weak government," said Punj.

"Otherwise, no one can treat the diplomat of a country under Vienna Conventions, the way they have treated our diplomat," he said.

He said the issue was an extremely sensitive one and should be taken very seriously.

"We must take this issue very seriously, and there should be a policy of tit for tat if America does not do anything about it," 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.

On Thursday, 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 had reacted strongly on the issue and released a statement saying it had "immediately conveyed its strong concern" to the US Government over the action taken against 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.