New Delhi: India chipped away at America’s diplomatic perks on Wednesday, ordering the envoys to obey local traffic laws and warning that a popular US Embassy club violates diplomatic law because it is open to outsiders.
The move was the latest in a campaign to exert pressure on the US following the arrest and strip search last month of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat based in New York City. Indian officials have called the strip search barbaric and unnecessary.
Khobragade, 39, is accused of paying her Indian maid less than the US minimum wage and lying about it on a visa application. She pleaded not guilty to fraud charges and is free on bail.
On Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported that India ordered the US to stop all “commercial activities” by January 16 at the American Community Support Association club. The club has a restaurant, bar, bowling alley, swimming pool and other amenities.
India says the fact that non-diplomats can join the club, at a cost of more than $1,300 (Dh4,774) per year, violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
US Embassy officials had no comment.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman E. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy said the government was waiting for a response from the United States. Asked whether India would shut down the club if the US doesn’t comply, he said: “It all depends on what the US Embassy does next. Embassies anywhere in the world cannot engage in commercial activities.”
PTI also reported that New Delhi warned that US Embassy vehicles would not be immune to penalties for traffic offences such as unauthorised parking and running red lights.
Khobragade was arrested on December 13 and was strip-searched in custody.
Khobragade could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted. She has said she has full diplomatic immunity. US federal officials dispute that, saying her immunity is limited to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions.
US prosecutors and lawyers for Devyani are at odds over a possible plea deal.
India has already withdrawn the airport passes given to US diplomats in India and the special diplomatic identity cards issued to them as part of reciprocal measures after the arrest of Khobragade.
