New York: Senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, facing a visa fraud case, has been granted accreditation to the UN headquarters here and the process to get a separate State Department identity card which would give her full diplomatic immunity is underway.
Khobragade has got the UN badge which states that she is a delegate and counsellor at the Indian mission to the UN and that identity card will enable her to enter the UN premises, sources told PTI.
"As of now the UN badge has been issued and the relevant papers for her to get a State Department Identity card (ID) have been sent by the UN to the State Department as per the normal procedure," a source said.
However, since a UN accreditation does not automatically grant her diplomatic immunity, she requires a State Department ID which would grant her the diplomatic privileges and immunity.
The sources said that the immunity is not granted by the UN but by the host country, in this case the US.
With federal departments headed for the Christmas and New Year holidays, the sources said, it is up to the State Department as to when it will issue her its identity card, which will give her full diplomatic immunity.
Movement in processing her State Department ID is expected to take place only after the Christmas holidays.
Khobragade was arrested on December 12 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid Sangeeta Richard. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond after being charged with visa fraud.
Subsequent revelations that she was strip searched and held with criminals triggered a row between the two sides.
