12-14-2010, 12:42 AM
[url="http://sify.com/news/another-pat-down-of-diplomat-in-us-india-takes-up-issue-news-national-kmnxafhdcid.html"]Another pat down of diplomat in US, India takes up issue[/url]
Quote:Krishna had described Shankar's experience as 'unacceptable'. 'We are going to take it up with the government of the US that such unpleasant incidents do not recur,' the minister told reporters outside parliament Thursday.
He had said there were 'certain well-established conventions, well-established practices as to how members of diplomatic corps are treated in a given country'.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns made a personal call to Shankar to apologise for the incident.
[color="#FF0000"]Former Indian diplomats have reacted to the latest incident by pointing out that there should be reciprocal treatment of foreign envoys in India.
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'The issue is not just of diplomats, but also of our Sikh brethren, whose issue we had taken up several times,' former Indian ambassador to US, Ronen Sen told Times Now television channel.
He said the security check of Puri's turban violated the reassurances given by US authorities on sensitivity in handling religious symbols during checks. 'We had explained to them that a pagri (turban) that a Sikh wears is not a headgear. It is a religious symbol, which should be treated with respect,' said Sen.
He said that there should be a 'reciprocal (treatment) across the board'. Similarly, former foreign secretary Romesh Bhandari said that 'reciprocity may be desirable'.