India hopeful of early solution to diplomatic row with US

India Sunday expressed optimism that the diplomatic row with the United States over the arrest of an Indian woman diplomat in New York earlier this month would be solved soon. Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told local media that he hopes the U.S. side would "do something" to attain a compromise with India. Vice Consul of India in New York Devyani Khobragade was arrested earlier this month in New York by police for alleged visa fraud and underpaying her Indian maid. She was on bail after paying 250,000 U.S. dollars to a court and has been since transferred as a counselor in the Indian Mission to the UN. India retaliated by withdrawing a series of diplomatic privileges for U.S. diplomats in the country, including clearing security barriers outside the U.S. embassy compound and American school in New Delhi. Asked how hopeful he was of a resolution of the issue soon, Khurshid said: "World keeps moving forward, world never dies, world never stops. Something will happen," Press Trust of India reported. On U.S. State Department welcoming his remarks on India-U.S. ties, he said:"They (the U.S.) must do something. Welcoming is not enough," according to the same news agency. On Friday, Khurshid said the United States is a valuable partner and that both sides need to preserve the "extremely exceptionally valuable" relations.