<p>The US has "deeply regretted" that India felt it necessary to expel an American diplomat after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was asked to leave the country following her indictment in a visa fraud case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We deeply regret that the Indian government felt it was necessary to expel one of our diplomatic personnel," State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said yesterday.<br /><br />"I can confirm that a US official accredited to the (American) Mission in India will be leaving post at the request of the government of India," Psaki said.<br /><br />The spokesperson said, "this has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship" and the US expected that "this relationship will not come to a closure and India will take "significant steps" to improve the ties and return to a more "constructive place".<br /><br />"We expect and hope that this will not come to closure, and the Indians will now take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place," the spokesperson said.<br /><br />Earlier, India expelled a senior American diplomat within hours of Khobragade being asked to leave the US after her indictment in a visa fraud case for which she was arrested nearly a month ago, triggering a row between the two sides.<br /><br />The unnamed Director-rank American diplomat based here was given "a little more than 48 hours" to leave India.<br /><br />Arrested on December 12, Khobragade, 39, was strip- searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats among other steps.</p>
<p>The US has "deeply regretted" that India felt it necessary to expel an American diplomat after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was asked to leave the country following her indictment in a visa fraud case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We deeply regret that the Indian government felt it was necessary to expel one of our diplomatic personnel," State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said yesterday.<br /><br />"I can confirm that a US official accredited to the (American) Mission in India will be leaving post at the request of the government of India," Psaki said.<br /><br />The spokesperson said, "this has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship" and the US expected that "this relationship will not come to a closure and India will take "significant steps" to improve the ties and return to a more "constructive place".<br /><br />"We expect and hope that this will not come to closure, and the Indians will now take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place," the spokesperson said.<br /><br />Earlier, India expelled a senior American diplomat within hours of Khobragade being asked to leave the US after her indictment in a visa fraud case for which she was arrested nearly a month ago, triggering a row between the two sides.<br /><br />The unnamed Director-rank American diplomat based here was given "a little more than 48 hours" to leave India.<br /><br />Arrested on December 12, Khobragade, 39, was strip- searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats among other steps.</p>