Mangled messages

摘要

Plenty of boulders have blocked the path to the closer friendship that Indian and American leaders say they seek for their countries. Civil nuclear co-operation, the issue that above all symbolises the partnership they aspire to, remains stunted by a row over Indian legislation on the liability for accidents. Security ties are constrained by India's fear of being seen as part of an American-led anti-China axis. Trade relations are fraught with bickering over patents, visas, market access and the transfer of technology. In comparison, the dispute that has opened the biggest rift between the two countries in years looks like a pebble. It centres on the treatment of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat in New York. She was arrested in December for allegedly falsifying documents used to obtain a visa for the Indian citizen she employed as a maid and nanny. She is accused of claiming to pay her more than she actually did, which was below the statutory minimum in America. She was freed on bail.