U.S. Defence Secretary Hagel to meet NSA Menon in Munich

A file photo of Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel.

U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel would meet India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon in Munich this week, Pentagon officials have said.

The two will meet during the 50th International Conference in Munich, Germany, scheduled from January 31 to February 1.

This would be the first meeting between them after the recent Devyani Khobragade issue that created tension in the bilateral ties.

Ms. Khobragade, 39, was indicted on January 10 for visa fraud and making false statements by a grand jury.

The 1999-batch IFS officer was arrested on December 12, last year, in New York on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a $250,000 bond.

The diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of U.S. diplomats.

Ms. Khobragade had returned to India after U.S. authorities accorded her diplomatic immunity.