Thursday, December 9, 2010

Meera Shankar’s ‘Pat Down’ Search in US “Unacceptable”, Says Krishna


NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday described the “Pat Down” search of Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar totally unacceptable and reacted strongly on the incident. Meera Shankar has been put through a pat down search last week at US Airport in Mississippi.


Meera Shankar has been invited by Mississippi State University to give a speech for an international studies program. As per the reports, when she was about to board a flight to Baltimore, she was pulled from an airport security line and patted down by a security agent at the Jackson-Ever International airport, despite the Americans being told of her status and the fact that she enjoys complete diplomatic immunity.


Meera Shankar was wearing a Saree and witnesses revealed that it was the main reason behind the pat down. She was taken to a VIP waiting room despite being told she was an ambassador. Thereafter she was patted down by a female Transportation Security Administration agent.

Meera Shankar


India is all set to protest such an embarrassment to the Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar by shooting a very strong mail to the US State Department.


“Let me be frank, this is unacceptable to India. We are going to take it up with the government of US that such unpleasant incidents do not recur…There are certain well-established conventions, well-established practices as to how members of diplomatic corps are treated in a given country,” Krishna told reporters.


“I am rather surprised by the way the Indian ambassador to the US has been treated. This has happened for a second time in three months,” he added.


Recently, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has also been pat-down at a Chicago airport because he was on a private trip and not escorted by any Indian diplomat.


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