After Indian officials expressed outrage mostly over an alleged cavity search conducted on diplomat Devyani Khobragade who committed visa fraud, Secretary of State John Kerry contacted Indian official, Shivshankar Moon, to express his "regret" over the incident, the New York Times reported.
Moon, India's national security advisor, was called by Kerry to ease tensions after New Delhi Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the female diplomat's arrest "deplorable," according to the Times.
Almost all Indian newspapers and website editorials expressed anger over the incident, and the barriers around the United States embassy in India were removed on Tuesday, the Times reported.
Khobragade, 39, is being accused for falsifying documents in regards to her house keepers work visa, as well as under paying her, and Indian newspapers insist she was subject to numerous, instead of the initial one, cavity search, the Times reported.
According to the United States Marshall Service which detained the diplomat, she was not subject to any procedure not standard for "arrestees within the general prisoner population," the Times reported.
Though the United States has not verified if authorities conducted a cavity search, Kerry called Moon to ease over tensions on Wednesday.
"As the father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathizes with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms. Khobragade's arrest," the State Department said in its statement which documents the phone call, the Times reported.
"He expressed his regret, as well as his concern, that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," the statement added.
