India has taken up with the U.S. the issue of Shah Rukh Khan's detention at a New York airport, conveying its “deep concern” over the incident. “We have taken it up with the State Department,” Indian ambassador to the U.S. Nirupama Rao told journalists here.
Ms. Rao, who was in the city for a Columbia University conference on India, said the detention of the Indian superstar is an “incident that need not have happened.”
She said the Indian embassy in Washington had issued a press note on the incident and “we would like to leave it at that.”
She added that even Khan was no longer in the U.S. and had left for India.
The envoy said there was concern across India over the incident since Khan is an internationally renowned personality.
“It is not merely our concern but the concern of the whole nation which we sought to convey to the State Department and the U.S. authorities so that they understand the depth of the concern that was expressed by us,” Ms. Rao said.
The embassy press note said it had sought the State Department's intervention to put in place measures so that such incidents are not repeated.
