White House tries to smooth row with India over diplomat\'s arrest

The White House Wednesday tried to quell a row with India over the arrest and strip searching of one of its female diplomats in New York, which sparked a fierce backlash. White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Washington understood why the issue was such a sensitive one in India, where there has been public outrage, but said the incident did not reflect the broad and healthy cooperation between the two countries. "The United States and India enjoy a broad and deep friendship and this isolated episode is not indicative of the close and mutually respectful ties that we share," Carney said. "We understand that this is a sensitive issue for many in India, and we are looking into the intake procedures surrounding this arrest, to ensure that all standard procedures were followed and that every opportunity for courtesy was extended." Devyani Khobragade, a deputy consul general in New York, was arrested last week for allegedly paying a domestic worker a fraction of the minimum wage and for lying about the employee's salary in a visa application. Her treatment has caused outrage in India, further fueled by an email from Khobragade in which she says she had been repeatedly stripped and cavity-searched by the U.S. authorities. India ordered a range of measures in reprisal, including recalling identity cards for U.S. consular officials, halting import clearances for the U.S. embassy including for alcohol, and removing barricades outside the US mission in New Delhi.