New Delhi In a strong reaction to detention of Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan at a New York airport, India on Friday summoned a top American diplomat after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said ‘detention and apology’have become a habit with
the US, which cannot continue. Asserting that ‘mechanical apology’from the US was not adequate, New Delhi also asked its Ambassador in Washington Nirupama Rao to take up the issue with the highest authorities.
According to the sources, the US Deputy Chief of Mission Donald Lu was summoned by Joint Secretary ( Americas) Javed Ashraf and was conveyed Indias ‘concern’over the issue. On his way to address students at Yale University, Shahrukh was detained by immigration officials for nearly two hours after arriving from India in a private plane at White Plains Airport, about 53 kilometres from Manhattan, and was given immigration clearance after intervention by Consulate General of India ( CGI).
Immediately after the intervention by CGI, the US Customs and Border Protection authorities expressed ‘profound’apology in a letter to them, official sources said.
Noting that it has become a habit of ‘detention and apology’with the US, Krishna said this cannot continue, sources said. Krishna is now in Moscow to attend a trilateral ministerial meeting. ‘Repeated problem for the same person followed by clearance on account of Consulate intervention and mechanical apology is not adequate,’Ministry of External Affairs sources said. Meanwhile, the US Embassy here apologised to Shahrukh for any inconvenience when he was detained for over two hours at an American CONTD. ON P2 Shah Rukh Khan replies to a question during a Q& A session after being conferred with ‘Chubb Fellowship’at Yale University in New Haven on Thursday.
