Washington: The US downgrade of India’s aviation regulator had “absolutely nothing” to do with the controversy over an Indian diplomat whose arrest led to a major international dispute, a senior US official said.
“This absolutely had nothing to do with the ongoing case of Dr Khobragade,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters on Friday when asked if the US action would hurt efforts to restore ties with India after their worst diplomatic spat over the December 12 arrest of Devyani Khobragade, India’s then deputy consul general in New York.
“Again, this was a regulatory decision,” she said referring to the US Federal Aviation Authority’s downgrade of the safety ranking of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from category-I to category-II rating.
“I don’t know how much leeway we have in those,” Harf said when asked if it was not possible to try and defer the FAA decision amid efforts to repair frayed relations over the arrest of Khobragade.
“But it’s my understanding that this was all made inside a regulatory framework that has very specific criteria countries have to meet under ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards that we’re all party to,” she said.
Read News in full 01/02/14 IANS/Gulf Time
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