M A I N   N E W S

Khurshid says diplomat's arrest in US an insult

Farkuhabad (UP), December 15
Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has termed the arrest of Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade in public as an "insult" and said the US's reaction is awaited on the matter.

"We consider it as an insult. US has been apprised about our stand on this and we are awaiting its response.. and do the needful after it is received," he told reporters yesterday when asked about the arrest of the Indian diplomat.

In a major diplomatic embarrassment, 39-year-old Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was taken into custody on a street in New York as she was dropping her daughter to school on December 12 and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges before being released on a USD 250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court. Replying to another question on Aam Admi Party (AAP), Khurshid said that they should take the responsibility and form the government in Delhi.

"Their (AAP) situation is that of a groom, whose preparation of marriage is ready but he is denying to take the responsibility..," he said.

The minister said that the Congress has given its support to AAP so that it could take the responsibility of "married life" and understand its essence. — PTI