New Delhi: The new US assistant secretary of state Neha Desai Biswal, a person of Indian origin, has postponed her first official visit to India on January 6 because of the downturn in India-US relations due to the unsavoury Devyani Khobragade issue.
The US state department has postponed the visit, keeping in view the backlash in India, when senior politicians like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon refused to meet the US congressional delegation a day after Devyani Khobragade was strip searched by a New York marshal in custody.
Neha Desai Biswal holds a rank equivalent to the joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and it is she who has been handling all communications in the State Deparment on the Khobragade issue.
The State Department has indicated that Biswal may visit India around January 13, but it is still uncertain because of the logjam over the Khobragade issue, with India and the US sticking to their respective stands.
India is demanding that the US tender an apology for insulting its deputy consul general in New York and drop charges against her, but the US has completely ruled out any such step.
