Senior officials of the governments of the United States and India spoke with each other late on Thursday in a bid to resolve an ongoing diplomatic row between the two countries.
U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman spoke with Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to find a solution over last week's arrest and strip-search of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, sources said.
According to reports quoting the sources, Sherman's call was a follow-up to a call made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon Wednesday, during which Kerry expressed regret over the situation.
Both sides Thursday discussed specific steps during which the statement by Manhattan-based attorney Preet Bharara came up, defending his department's action against Khobragade.
It has been reported that Sherman has distanced herself from Bharara's statement.
Khobragade has been accused of committing visa fraud with respect to her former maid Sangeetha Richards. The Indian Government continues to maintain that the victim in the case is Khobragade, and not Richards. New Delhi also maintains that the United States should not have facilitated the evacuation of Richards family members when knowing that cases were pending against them in India.
