LATimes | Indian media reported Tuesday that India has retaliated by summoning
U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell and withdrawing all airport passes for U.S.
consulate and embassy vehicles, effectively removing their priority
treatment and free parking.
It has also asked the U.S
to provide information on the salaries paid to all Indian staff
employed at U.S. missions in India and those working as domestic help
for American families.
It has removed security from around the U.S. Embassy in the leafy Chanakyapuri district of New Delhi. India has also reportedly asked for the visa and bank account details of all teachers working at U.S. schools in the country to determine whether they’re paying tax or not.
It has removed security from around the U.S. Embassy in the leafy Chanakyapuri district of New Delhi. India has also reportedly asked for the visa and bank account details of all teachers working at U.S. schools in the country to determine whether they’re paying tax or not.
And on Tuesday, several senior government ministers and top
politicians -- including Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate
for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, and Rahul Gandhi, the scion
of the Nehru-Gandhi family leading India's ruling Congress Party -- refused to meet a visiting Congressional delegation.
Members of the delegation included representatives George Holding (R-N.C.), Pete Olson (R-Texas), David Schweikert (R- Ariz.), Robert Woodall (R-Ga.) and Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).
The kerfuffle comes in advance of a general election expected early
next year. Analysts said India’s government, which has presided over
several massive scandals and a weak economy, is wary of being accused of
lacking patriotism or going soft on foreign policy.
"We are shocked and appalled at the manner in which she has been
humiliated by the U.S. authorities,” said Syed Akabaruddin, foreign
ministry spokesman, at a briefing Friday. "We are also reiterating, in
no uncertain terms, to the U.S. Embassy here that this kind of treatment
to one of our diplomats is absolutely unacceptable."
Analysts said the incident underscored anti-American sentiment that is sometimes just below the surface.
“I haven’t been able to understand how people in New York behaved the
way they did,” said K. Shankar Bajpai, an analyst with the Delhi Policy
Group think tank and a former Indian ambassador to the U.S. “It doesn’t
take much to arouse anti-Americanism. It’ll obviously leave a bad
taste.”
2 comments:
How much time did they lose in this pursuit?
Quite a bit, it would seem. They kept getting lost within a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
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