UN posting gives Devyani temporary immunity, US says - The Times of India
UN posting gives Devyani temporary immunity, US says
WASHINGTON: The transfer of diplomat
Devyani Khobragade to India's Permanent Mission at the United Nations would grant her full-diplomatic immunity temporarily and protect her from any arrest in the US, but the visa fraud case against her would go uninterrupted, a US official said on Friday.
"For anyone, it would apply for the length of time that they have that diplomatic status. But it doesn't retroactively wipe out past discretions," the state department spokeswoman,
Jen Psakisaid.
"Receiving
diplomatic immunity does not nullify any previously existing criminal charges. Those remain on the books. Nor does obtaining diplomatic immunity protect the diplomat from prosecution indefinitely. It relates to the status of a diplomat's current status for the length of the time of that status," Psaki said.
Diplomatic immunity means, among other things, that a foreign diplomat is not subject to criminal jurisdiction in the United States for the time they are a diplomat, for the time they have that immunity, she said.
She added that,"when immunity is conferred, it does not retroactively take effect at a previous point in time but relates solely to the diplomat's current status."
"So, I think some of the confusion here has been if there is a change in status, does that mean that there is a clean slate from past charges. There's not," Paski said.
After her arrest on visa fraud charges in New York last week, Khobragade was transfered this week from the Indian consulate to its Permanent Mission at the UN.
She also said that the US is yet to get an official request "through the proper channels for accreditation" and hinted the full diplomatic immunity would remain till the time she is posted at the UN.
'Need to preserve and protect partnership with India'
Psaki welcomed the statements of
Salman Khurshid on the importance of India-US ties and said there is need to "preserve and protect" the partnership.
"I ... point you to the comments of external affairs minister Khurshid earlier today, where he talked about the importance of US-India relations, talked about how valuable they are. And we certainly fully agree that it's important to preserve and protect our partnership," Psaki said.
Responding to a question, she said, " it not just about diplomatic ties, we have over $90 billion in bilateral trades, we're supporting thousands of jobs in both of our countries, we share very close counterterrorism cooperation."
"We are engaged with India, of course, on a range of issues, including Afghanistan, which is often a hot topic in here," Psaki said.
The US would continue discussions with India through diplomatic channels and private conversations, she said.
US
secretary of stateJohn Kerry is planning to call Khurshid soon to discuss the issue and discuss a way forward to the sudden eruption of tension between the two countries.
"We (Kerry) reached out to him (Khurshid), and I believe Parliament was in session; he wasn't available at the time, but he looks forward to speaking with him soon when we can align the two schedules up," she said adding that Kerry has actively engaged on the issue and has received several briefings on the issue.
"He remains very engaged in this as it unfolds," she said. Responding to questions, Psaki acknowledged that there are differences between India and the US law enforcement agencies on the interpretation of the law.
"I think it's accurate to say that our law enforcement authorities and the government of India have some different interpretations of the issues and allegations at play," she said.
The visa fraud complaint was filed by the diplomatic security wing of the state department, is now a legal case, and the state department doesn't have jurisdiction over that, she asserted.
"We have been clear about our standing - our position of certainly standing with our judicial colleagues. So I don't have any particular update on that, other than to say that this is a legal process that's working its way through," she said when asked if US would drop charges against Devyani Khobragade.
"Now at the same time we of course are closely engaged with the government of India, we're in close contact, and we want to move beyond this. I think we all recognise the importance of our long-term relationship," she said.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested and then handed over to the US Marshals Service (USMS). She has since been posted to India's Permanent Mission in New York.
Khobragade was taken into custody as she was dropping her daughter to school before being released on a $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.
She could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted.
Look's like the issue is being cooled down for now, and also it means that that she will be sent back to India and those charges slowly dropped ,but we should not relent.
