New Delhi, Dec 20

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath Friday said India will not accept this US "mockery" and demanded it drop charges against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade.

"We won't accept any formality and America will have to drop charges and apologise. We will not accept this mockery," Nath told mediapersons.

"America needs to understand that the time has changed, the world has changed and so has India," he added.

He was reacting to US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf's statement in which she has made clear that charges won't be dropped against Khobragade.

The 39-year-old deputy consul general in New York was strip-searched, cavity-searched and swabbed for DNA after her arrest in New York last week on charges of visa fraud and under-paying her maid. She was confined with criminals before being released on a $250,000 bail.

Following the incident, India accused the US of humiliating its consular official and violation of rights laid out by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR).

India was adamant that the US apologise and admit its mistake.

The US has regretted the incident but no formal apology has been issued.