Non-diplomats working in the United States Embassy have been asked not to make use of the facilities at the club in Delhi embassy.
Hundreds of staff working in the American Embassy uses the American Community Support Association club, which has a bar, swimming pool, restaurant and a beauty parlour within the embassy premises. The club has been in existence for decades.
Responding to the step, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had said on Thursday that India would do what is acceptable under reciprocal arrangements.
"We are not doing anything except what is appropriate under reciprocal arrangements; that's all we are doing. Sometimes you might make some concessions, some adjustments." he said.
The controversy that erupted following the arrest and strip search of Devyani Khobragade in New York has forced India to adopted reciprocal arrangements with the United States.
Khobragade, who was deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested on December 12 and charged with one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper.
On the day of her arrest, she was strip-searched. The arresting authority, the US Marshals Service, said the strip search was a routine procedure imposed on any new arrestee at the federal courthouse.
Khobragade was released on USD 250,000 bail. In the aftermath of her arrest, India asked to transfer Khobragade to the United Nations.
The case was adjourned until January 13 by which time the government must commence a preliminary hearing or file an indictment.
Arshack has reportedly asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to extend the deadline by 30 days to February 12.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, whose office is handling the case, however, said plea discussions can continue following the indictment in the case.
State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf had said India's application to transfer Khobragade's accreditation to the Indian mission at the United Nations, which was made before Christmas, was still under review.
"We've received the request for change in accreditation, but the process is ongoing and no official decision has been made yet to do that. So, there's no change in her status as of this point," she told a regular news briefing.
According to UN guidelines on diplomatic privileges and immunities, documents certifying diplomatic immunity, if approved, are usually issued by the US Mission to the United Nations within two weeks of the initial request.
A State Department official said there was no set time period for the process, and noted that the request had been filed just ahead of a period of government holidays.
Harf said the United States hoped to see the case resolved as soon as possible in the interest of the bilateral relationship between India and the United States, which has been strained by the case.
"We don't want this to define our relationship going forward and don't think that it will. If you look throughout the region, if you look at Afghanistan, if you look at energy issues, economic issues, we have a whole host of things we work together on, and those are very important and shouldn't be derailed by this incident. The relationship with India is incredibly important, it's vital, and that's what we're focused on," said Harf.
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