US-India ties not all peaches and cream

[unhappycamper]

http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2013/12/16/us-india-ties-not-all-peaches-and-cream/

US-India ties not all peaches and cream
By M K Bhadrakumar – December 16, 2013

The South Block has every reason to reportedly feel “extremely upset” that the US state department cleared the arrest and handcuffing of the Indian deputy consul general on a Manhattan avenue and forgot to inform the Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh who happened to be in Washington at Faggy Bottom on her maiden trip for consultations as the head of the foreign office.

Clearly, feelings are running high as evident from the fact that no one other than External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid called the outrageous incident an “insult” to India. There is indeed a case for seeking parity for the US mission staff. No amount of spin by the American side can obfuscate the reality that there is no justification whatsoever to handcuff a foreign diplomat and parade her on a street.

To do hair splitting on legal grounds at this stage is laughable. Simply put, the American intentions are questionable. Besides, all this is happening against the backdrop of the hostile activities by the US intelligence against India’s diplomatic and consular establishments in America, as disclosed by the ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

As I noted earlier, the security of the Indian diplomatic establishments in the US has been breached by the US intelligence and the downstream consequences are devastating for India’s national interests.