The Obama Administration has expressed “surprise” over the dismissal of a federal indictment against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the visa fraud case.
“We were surprised by the dismissal of the indictment against former Indian Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, a day after a New York court dismissed the indictment against Ms. Khobragade.
Ms. Khobragade, whose arrest and strip search soured Indo-U.S. relations, on Thursday won dismissal of the case against her with a U.S. judge ruling she had full diplomatic immunity.
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The ruling, however, left open the possibility that U.S. prosecutors could bring a new indictment against Ms. Khobragade.
George Abraham, Chairman of Indian National Overseas Congress (I) USA, welcomed the decision to dismiss the indictment against Ms. Devyani Khobragade.
“Whatever the merit of the case, it has become a major irritant to the U.S.-India relationship and something had to happen to resume normalcy,” he said in a statement.
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Abraham said Indo-U.S. strategic partnership and relations were too important in the global arena to be frozen due to a row over a visa issue.