Diplomat Devyani Khobragade said here on Wednesday that she missed her daughters but was confident of being reunited with her family soon. “I am sure they will join me sometime in February and we will be able to live together again,” said Ms. Khobragade, who arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday.
She said she was taking time off to be in the “city I love” before moving to Delhi to hold office at the Ministry of External Affairs. “Mumbai is where I have grown up. I will spend a few days and will start work in Delhi by next week,” she told The Hindu . On Wednesday morning, she was in her parents’ Versova home catching up on some of her favourite dishes.
Ms Khobragade returned to India last week after she was granted full diplomatic immunity on the day a jury indicted her of visa fraud in the U.S.
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Meanwhile, her father, retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade is looking at getting into the political fray and might even consider contesting the Lok Sabha election. “I have been considering entering politics for about two years now. After retirement, I thought that politics was the only way to continue serving people. I am in talks with political parties,” he said.
Mr. Khobragade has been the active crusader for his daughter who was charged with visa fraud and giving false information to the U.S. government about her maid Sangeeta Richard’s employment contract. In her indictment by an American jury, it was said that she made Ms. Richard work for longer hours than stipulated in the work contract and refused to pay her full salary.
“My daughter has been made the scapegoat of a fight between two governments. The government of India is supportive of my daughter’s position. We have submitted all documents which prove that Devyani has been framed. The maid had gone to the U.S. with the intention of getting permanent residency,” he said.
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“Devyani was living in a building called Permanent Mission of India, which is deemed Indian territory. Whatever was happening within that area between two Indians was the prerogative of the Indian government. The U.S. government had no business interfering,” said Mr. Khobragade.