[Moorings]

Actually the problem moved beyond the importance of Khobragade. Her strip-search and cavity-search upon her arrest, irritated many in India, uniting political parties across the spectrum (which is an almost impossible task). It was no longer about what she had done, but more about a national humiliation through how their diplomat was treated.

They do have a point. If this had been done to Chinese or Russian diplomats, the response from these countries would have been immediate and pretty severe, making headlines around the world. We know all about the Chinese government sponsored riots to express anger. Compared to that India's response has been quite calm and measured.

These sort of problems have festered for a while now. Couple of years ago the Indian ambassador to the U.S. was subjected to an extensive search in one of the airports here. Prior to that the Indian defense minister was searched at an airport.

India feels that the treatment it receives is not the same respect that other countries get. Recently there was the incident of the Saudi princess keeping near slaves and she was let go, and then the Russian diplomats engaged in some fraud, and those guys were also not arrested.

India feels that it is perceived as a "soft state" that does not retaliate or reciprocate for these incidents, that is why they are ignored when they complain.

The sad part is that the U.S. diplomats in India are the ones who have to deal with the consequences, not Bharara or anyone else.

[untenured]

There is what you're entitled to do, which I'm not disputing, and what you ought to do. India by all means ought to communicate, through traditional channels, the right of their diplomats to be treated in accordance with convention. That they expelled a US diplomat, for example, is perfectly reasonable. But the Indian people, led by their opportunistic politicians, have deeply absorbed the discourse of "humiliation," which all nations just barely on the outside looking in seem to do. This discourse, in the form of making up for previous humiliations and the demand for respect, is also very common in contemporary China. (Think also about the bluster of Theodore Roosevelt, or the desire for respect of Wilhemite Germany.)

I get it, and they appear to be right about what in the grand scheme of things is a completely inconsequential matter, but there are bigger things afoot. It's too bad no one's politics seems to allow for seeing it.