Revisiting The 2013 India-US Diplomatic Stand-Off Over Mistreatment Of An IFS Officer

India is currently involved in an unprecedented diplomatic row with Canada as a result of the fallout over the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The tensions had been boiling for some time over a range of issues, including the Canadian government's support for the 2020 farmers protests and the country's failure to act against separatist groups.

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But it blew up on Monday with an explosive statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, wherein he told the Canadian Parliament that "Indian agents" were behind the shooting of Hardeep Nijjar.

Strong reaction by India to Canada

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) hit back with an unusually strong response, with many comparing the language of the statement to something that 'India has reserved for Pakistan'.

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It is very unusual for India to pick a public diplomatic fight with a Western country, though not unheard of.

2013 India-US diplomatic stand-off

In fact, ten years ago, the then government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh picked up one of India's most 'famous' diplomatic standoffs with the US.

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Why was Devyani Khobragade arrested

It all began when Devyani Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was arrested by the US Marshals for alleged visa fraud in hiring a domestic help and was strip-searched, causing massive outrage in India.

Khobragade was serving as acting consul general of the Indian Consulate in New York and had diplomatic immunity, but despite this, she was briefly arrested and was strip-searched.

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Why the arrest caused outrage in India

She was allegedly handcuffed and kept with ¡°common criminals and drug addicts¡±. She later was released on a $ 250,000 bond.

There was massive outrage in India, which called the arrest a violation of the Vienna Convention.

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National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon termed the treatment of the female diplomat as ¡°barbaric¡±.

How India retaliated

The incident also escalated to a diplomatic row, and India took the unusual move of removing concrete security barriers in front of the US Embassy in New Delhi.

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India also started checking the salaries paid by US Embassy staff to domestic helpers and withdrawing consular identification cards and privileges such as access to airport lounges for some US diplomats and their families.

Though John Kerry, the then US secretary of state, expressed regret shortly after the incident, this fell short of the apology demanded by Indians.

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NSA Menon and Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat Chief Minister, refused to meet a delegation of US lawmakers visiting India.

What ended the stand-off

The situation was eased after India moved Khobragade to the Indian Mission at the United Nations, New York, which provided her with diplomatic immunity.

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In January 2014, she was granted immunity from visa fraud charges, underpaying her maid, and was allowed to leave the US.

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