Washington, Jan 15
In a bid to ease tensions after a bitter month long diplomatic row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat, US Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns hosted Indian Ambassador S. Jaishankar for a "productive lunch meeting."
At Tuesday's meeting at the State Department, Burns and Jaishankar "affirmed the importance of the US-India strategic partnership," the State department said in a statement
"They agreed that the past several weeks have been challenging," it said in a reference to the month long diplomatic row sparked by the arrest and strip search of Devyani Khobragade, 39, India's then deputy consul-general in New York.
She was asked to return home Jan 10 after India declined to waive her diplomatic immunity to enable her prosecution charges of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper even as she was indicted by a grand jury in New York.
Burns and Jaishankar "affirmed that we are both committed to moving forward to resume cooperation on the broad range of bilateral issues before us," the State Department said.
By:IANS