BackUS energy secretary cancels trip to India amid diplomatic row
The US will look for a mutually convenient time to resume energy talks says state department spokeswoman
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New Delhi: US energy secretary Ernest Moniz cancelled a trip to India this month amid a diplomatic row, according to two officials with knowledge of the decision.
The officials asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. The move follows steps by India to curb activities at a social club linked to the US embassy in New Delhi as it boosts pressure on American officials to drop visa fraud charges against a diplomat.
The US will look for a mutually convenient time to resume energy talks, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
The issues between the nations are highly technical and complicated and the US will address them privately, Psaki said in Washington DC on Wednesday. “We continue to believe that we can maintain our strong historic relationship, and that’s what our focus is on.
Tension has grown over Indian outrage that US officials charged a diplomat with visa fraud for underpaying her babysitter as the nation of 1.2 billion people prepares for elections in a few months.
A social club with a swimming pool and bowling alley will be shut for non-diplomats from 16January, while embassy cars will now face traffic fines, according to an Indian government official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
There is no merit in extending courtesies beyond what is accorded to our diplomats, foreign minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday. “Since they are saying they will abide by their law, so we will also apply our laws. We are withdrawing facilities that were extended over and above what was mutually agreed between us."
Manhattan US attorney Preet Bharara, who won the largest insider trading case in American history last year, said Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade submitted a false visa application for an employee who was to work as her housekeeper and baby sitter, and paid her far below minimum wage. He has defended a strip-search of Khobragade, saying it was standard practice.
Located next to the US embassy in New Delhi’s diplomatic district, the American Community Support Association is popular with families and used for embassy functions, including last year’s July 4 Independence Day celebrations. It has a baseball field, a small gym, a beauty parlor, and restaurants and bars serving cheeseburgers and American beer.
Parking fines
The club, which had offered family memberships for $2,425 a year, will soon only be available for accredited diplomats because they are exempt from paying duties on services, according to the Indian government official. The club may now struggle to stay open because it will serve a small number of diplomats, the official said.
India also asked the American Centre, a venue in central New Delhi for US cultural programs including movies, concerts and plays, to cease all programs immediately for failing to gain approval, according to the official. This month the centre was due to screen films like White House Down and Wolverine, and host an event called How to Fund Your US Education.
After years of exemptions, US embassy cars will also face penalties for unauthorized parking, jumping red lights and dangerous driving, the official said. Fines for such violations range from 90 rupees ($1.45) to 990 rupees for first-time offenders, according to the Delhi Transport Department.
Alcohol privileges
The moves build on measures announced earlier to remove security barriers around the US embassy in New Delhi and cancel diplomatic import privileges for food and alcohol. Indian authorities also sought information on how much Indian staff earn as employees of the US government, and if teachers at the American school paid taxes.
Further action may be taken against the embassy in coming weeks, the Indian official said, declining to say what measures are being considered.
US embassy spokesman Peter Vrooman did not answer calls to his mobile phone.
This has become rather silly and unfortunate, said Salman Haider, India’s former top bureaucrat in the foreign ministry who had also served as ambassador to China. It’s important that the two sides talk this issue out and find a way forward. “I have seen no evidence that the US or India has taken any steps in that direction.
US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to mend ties with India over the incident, expressing his regret in a 18 December call to Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon. He stopped short of an apology. BLOOMBERG
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