Khobragade matter should be laid to rest. Then, IFS must cast a hard look at its perks and privileges
Devyani Khobragade has been given full diplomatic immunity by the US and been brought back home. She has also been formally indicted in the US for visa fraud and making false statements about the terms she offered her domestic employee, Sangeeta Richard. This was evidently a hard-won compromise. A revenge expulsion of a US diplomat by Delhi, however, belies hopes that one of the most bitter episodes between the two countries in recent times has drawn to a close.
Once this is all over, there must be a consular dialogue to smooth the wrinkles that have been exposed in the diplomatic arrangements. India should resolve the long-running questions regarding domestic staff for foreign missions and their compensation instead of facilitating workarounds and invoking diplomatic immunity to cover for domestic sins. The IFS must also use this as a learning moment, and understand that it cannot continue in a feudal cocoon, that the old sense of elite entitlement is fraying at home as well. This is an occasion to look hard at diplomatic perks, and strip away the inessentials. The times are changing and the foreign service establishment can ill afford to raise the flag and claim national affront every time other countries apply their own reasonable laws to the way of life it takes for granted.
