Indian government wants the Saudi embassy to make the diplomat available for questioning
"MEA chief of protocol called in the Saudi ambassador today and conveyed the request of the Haryana police for cooperation of the embassy in the case of the two Nepalese citizens," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
New Delhi: India on Thursday requested Saudi Arabia to facilitate the presence of its Delhi-based diplomat — who is accused of the rape and torture of two Nepalese women — before investigators and to cooperate with the probe in the case.
Saudi ambassador to India Saud Mohammed Alsati was called in by the ministry of external affairs on Thursday and told that the Haryana police is seeking cooperation in the case a day after the ministry received a report about the case from the police.
The request to cooperate essentially means that the Indian government wants the Saudi embassy to make the diplomat available for questioning.
The Saudi ambassador was told that the accused diplomat, a first secretary at the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi, should give a statement to the Gurgaon (Haryana) police probing the case, even as the diplomat and his family are believed to have shifted to the Saudi embassy while the two Nepalese victims left for Nepal earlier in the day.
New Delhi expects that the Saudi embassy will respond to the request by Friday. In case the Saudis refuse to cooperate, New Delhi may ask Riyadh to waive the immunity of the concerned diplomat.
While following all diplomatic conventions and adhering strictly to the law, New Delhi may have to tread cautiously on the matter since Saudi Arabia is one of the largest oil exporters to energy-hungry India. Indians are also the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia with over 2.88 million Indian nationals working and contributing towards development of that country.
Even New Delhi and Riyadh are currently strengthening defence ties, with two Indian naval warships docking at a Saudi port on Friday. While Saudi Arabia continues its extremely close ties with Pakistan, it has strengthened ties enormously with India too in the past decade.
“MEA chief of protocol called in the Saudi ambassador today and conveyed the request of the Haryana police for cooperation of the embassy in the case of the two Nepalese citizens,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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