Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS) In a strongly worded statement, India Wednesday said it was “deeply concerned” at the targeting of Indian diplomats in the United States and dismissed charges of ’slavery’ against its New York Consul General as “motivated and baseless”.

Backing the Consul General in New York, Prabhu Dayal, as a person of “impeccable personal and professional integrity”, the government said it was “disappointed and surprised at the allegations” levelled against him.

A former housekeeper of the Consul General has brought a forced-labour suit against him in a Manhattan federal court Monday, claiming that she had been kept in slavery-like conditions.

Earlier this month, the daughter of an Indian diplomat in New York, Krittika Biswas had sued the city of New York for illegal arrest, with India and US differing over whether she had diplomatic immunity.

“We are disappointed and deeply concerned that Indian diplomats and their family members, should be targetted in such a manner by a friendly country like USA,” said the ministry of external affair’s official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.

He added: “Such actions impede the ability of the individuals in question to discharge their official responsibilities as well as cause untold mental harassment and anguish. They cannot be dismissed lightly.”

Indicating that such actions could even affect bilateral ties, Prakash noted: “The treatment being meted out to Indian diplomats or their family members has resulted in negative public perceptions in India with attendant implications.”

He added that India had been “disappointed and surprised at the allegations against Consul General (CG) of India in New York, Mr. Prabhu Dayal, by his former employee, which appear to be motivated and baseless.”

Stating that the government was fully backing its top diplomat in New York city, the official spokesperson said Dayal “is a senior diplomat of impeccable personal and professional integrity”.