Safety, dignity of diplomat foremost concern: Preneet Kaur

Emphasising that the safety and dignity of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US was the government's top concern, Union Minister Preneet Kaur today said that India was firm in its stand that the cases against her should be withdrawn.
"Our foremost concern is the safety and security of Devyani... On that there is no compromise.
"What they (the US) are saying, whatever their responses are, we are looking into them and we'll take further action accordingly," said Kaur, the Minister of State for External Affairs.
The government is working to ensure the safety of the diplomat and would also see to it that her dignity was not affected, Kaur told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

"And, we have told them that it is not acceptable the way they have behaved with her," she added.
Speaking at the same event, organised by the PHDCCI, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said that American authorities had behaved "atrociously" with the Indian diplomat and the country now needed to make good the damage.

The 39-year-old Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was taken into custody in New York before being released on a USD 250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.
Earlier, speaking at the event, Kaur said that diplomacy now took more interest in the economic agenda.

Tewari spoke on the need for administrative reforms and said that it was the bureaucracy which was interested in maintaining the status quo.
There should be sustained and structured administrative reforms which adapt the bureaucracy to the present times, he said.
Uttar Pradesh government minister Abhishek Mishra, too, was present at the event.