The United States has distanced itself from the alleged offensive comments made by its diplomat, who was last week expelled by India in a tit-for-tat action following the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in New York last month.
“Those comments absolutely do not reflect U.S. Government policy, nor were they made on any official US Government social media account,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at her daily news conference.
Ms. Harf was responding to questions on the Facebook postings by American diplomat Wayne May and his spouse Alicia Muller in which they allegedly made offensive comments about India and appear to be insensitive to Indian culture.
Citing privacy reasons, the State Department official refused to identify the diplomat who was asked to leave India.
But Indian sources have identified them as Mr. Wayne May and Ms. Alicia Muller May. The couple were not available for reaction.
Ms. Harf said she has not seen the comments on Facebook.
“I’ve seen the reports of them...Again, I would underscore that these do not in any way represent the U.S. Government position,” she added.
