External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday that even as India and the U.S. were trying to resolve the issue of maltreatment of an Indian diplomat in New York, people on both sides would not want their close ties to be hurt by this “one incident.”
“We have an exceptionally valuable relationship with the U.S. and I do believe it has [the U.S.] similar sentiments about us and it must understand the value of partnership,” the Minister told journalists on the sidelines of the FICCI annual general body meeting here on Saturday.
Mr. Khurshid regretted that the incident had disrupted his channels of communication with the U.S. but hoped the conversations still being carried out would help break the stalemate. India wants charges of visa fraud against diplomat Devyani Khobragade unconditionally dropped whereas the U.S. insists this cannot be done.
“I speak to America through diplomatic channels and my diplomatic channels have been interrupted. That is my concern. Let the conversation go to its logical conclusion. My conversation is not completed,” he said.